


Even Angels Have Their Demons

by Icypolargirl78



Series: Multi-Creatures AU [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Check out my Multi-Creatures AU info work for more details, F/F, Fluff, If you wanna know why I edited the tags, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, specifically the update chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:48:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 26,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icypolargirl78/pseuds/Icypolargirl78
Summary: What happens when a new hermit joins the group. With no memory of who she was or where she came from, Ice must figure out just how exactly she ended up in the Hermitcraft world. But she's not the only new face in the world, a dark figure begins surfacing causing trouble and chaos wherever she can. Rated Mature for cursing.
Relationships: Cubfan135/GoodTimesWithScar, Docm77/BdoubleO100, EX/HelsKnight/BadTimesWithScar/Fir, Etho/Daniel M. | VintageBeef, False/Stress/Cleo, Iskall85/Rendog, Jevin/Welsknight, Mumbo Jumbo/Grian, Tango/Impulse/Zedaph, Welsknight/Jevin, Xisuma/Keralis, xBCrafted/Hypno
Series: Multi-Creatures AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923319
Comments: 45
Kudos: 44





	1. Snow and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone this is Icypolargirl78. This is my first fanfiction in the Hermitcraft fandom. I recognize that all of the creator on the Hermitcraft server have their own preferences. The ships in this fic are purely for my own entertainment. If any of the Hermits express that they are uncomfortable with shipping, I will delete this work. I hope you have a good time reading my fanfic even if I think it's trash. I hope you enjoy. I do accept constructive criticism which you can leave in the comments. I apologize if there are mistakes in the work. I did my best to edit this on my own. Kudos are appreciated. Goodbye my litte Ice Pops, Love Icypolargirl78

Tango shivered as he trudged through the thick snow. Even though he was a fire elemental the extreme temperature of the tundra still bothered him. The only reason he was even out here was because he needed blue ice and there was absolutely none around the spawn area. 

**_Why oh why did I decide to do this myself instead of asking Zed or Impulse for help._ ** Tango already knew the answer. He was stubborn. Plain and simple he didn’t like asking people for help.

Tango was so deep in thought that the flash of movement almost did not register in his brain. He looked up thinking that it might just be an animal like a rabbit or wolf. However the creature was much too big, and it definitely had the distinct outline of a person. 

**_Is that one of the other hermits,_ ** Tango thought, but the form was too small to be another one of the other inhabitants of the world. Even Grian, their newest member who was very short wasn’t as short as this person. The red-eyed demon approached the figure cautiously, he didn’t want to engage in combat with the person, but he also didn’t know how they managed to enter the world considering you could enter through a portal. 

As he got closer he could make out more details, like the fact the person was a girl, and that she was an avian like False and Grian. Her wings were large with snowy white feathers that blended in well with the surrounding terrain. She was facing away from him so he couldn’t see her face, though he could see that she was adorned in diamond boots, and a helmet. She was heading towards a large collection of chests scattered around on snowy ground. Trailing behind her were two wolves. One of which had a light blue collar and the other’s was colored a dark teal. As she reached the pile of chests she took her helmet of which revealed a pair of round fluffy ears that stuck out from her pale bluish-white hair. She set the helmet down on a nearby crafting table before turning to open a chest to retrieve some materials. Tango continued walking towards the girl before being startled by loud barks from the pair of wolves. The girl looked up and Tango finally got a good look at her face. 

She had large eyes with bright magenta colored irises. Her skin was pale and she had a spray of freckles that splattered across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She smiled as she approached him revealing slightly sharpened teeth that looked similar to Ren’s fangs. 

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” Her voice was light and soft like a mild breeze during the summer. Now that she was right in front of him, Tango could see that she was wearing a white sweater vest with a red trim on the bottom. Underneath was thick purple, turtleneck. She also wore a pair of plain black leggings and a set of brown fur boots. The shirt that she wore slid down over her wrists hiding her hands. “What’s your name?” she asked. 

“I’m Tango. Nice to meet you. If you don’t mind me asking how exactly did you find your way into our world?”  **_Did Xisuma invite her here without telling anyone?_ ** But that didn’t make any sense. The Admin of their world was always very open and honest about the decisions he made. Not to mention that X had just introduced Grian as their only new hermit in this new iteration of the world. 

The girl furrowed her brows and frowned down at the ground. “Honestly I’m really not entirely sure. I just woke up one day on the tundra. I don’t really have any idea of how I got here. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help to you.” Her eyes were sad.

“That’s fine, do you remember anything at all, like your name?” Tango reached forward and patted the space between her ears in an effort to comfort her.

“Oh” she exclaimed, “I remember my name. It’s Ice by the way.” A loud meow came from the direction of an open chest. Tango yelped, startled by the sudden noise.

“WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!” He exclaimed as small sparks of fire curled off his skin. That tended to happen when he was excited or scared. 

“Oh that” ,she laughed, “That’s just Popcicle, he tends to get a bit cranky when he’s left out.” She reached into the chest and lifted out a living snowball. Well not really but with the amount of snowy white fur that covered the cat it certainly seemed that way. The large cat snuggled into Ice’s sweater blinking his big blue eyes in the bright light that reflected off the snow. 

“All I can really say is that I woke up in the middle of the snow with only remembering my name and Popcicle laying on top of me” She scratched the cat behind the ears earning her a loud purr of delight from the feline. “I found Sleet and Blizzard a few days ago while exploring a forest that’s not too far from here.” She gestured toward the two wolves which were tumbling around on the ground kicking up plumes of snow wherever they rolled. 

Tango thought for a minute.  **_Should I tell Xisuma about her, or should I not. If I do there’s a chance that she might be banned from the world, and in the state she’s in, without any recollection of where she’s from. That could seriously mess a person up._ ** Then he mentally slapped himself. X would never be so cruel to such an innocent person who hadn’t done anything wrong.  **_So I have two choices; either I can bring her directly to Xisuma or he can come here and assess the situation. I’m betting on the latter rather than the former since Ice might get overwhelmed by the rest of the hermits._ **

“Hey Ice?” He asked snapping out of his thoughts.

“Yeah what is it?” She answered, setting Popsicle down on the ground where he promptly hopped back into the chest he was inhabiting before.

“Would it be okay if I invited another one of my friends to meet you? He’s sort of the leader where I’m from.”

“Of course, I’m always happy to make new friends.” Her smile widened and the feathers on her wings fluffed up in excitement at the question. 

“Cool, I’ll send him a quick message to see if he can come over here now.” Tango opened his communicator quickly typing out a message for Xisuma.

_ Tango: Hey X _

_ Xisuma: Yeah, what is it? Did you find enough blue ice? _

_ Tango: Well no but I did find something else you should see. You should come here now. Here are the coordinates (-1356/632)  _

_ Xisuma: I’ll be right there. _

Tango closed his communicator before settling down on the frozen ground. Sleet and Blizzard bounded over to him, sniffing at his hand and tail. He held out a hand which they both nuzzled into. He scratched them behind the ears which caused their tails to thump against the ground sending up clouds of powdery snow that flew up into his face. He turned away catching the setting sun as it slipped slowly down behind a massive hill covered in snow. The late evening light caught the small ice crystals that were buried in the snow creating the illusion of pinpricks of light streaming across the snowy field. 

“Beautiful isn’t it?” Ice was standing behind him admiring the scene. She had a gentle smile decorating her face. The sun also illuminated her bright magenta eyes. “We should probably sleep. The mobs get pretty bad during the night. I have a spare bed you can borrow.”

“Thanks” Tango dusted himself off before moving in the direction she was pointing in. He found the bed which had several blankets made of thick multi-colored wool covering the mattress. “Wow these are really nice. Is it really okay for me to use them?”

“Of course, they were made to keep in as much warmth as possible since I don’t have a house yet and it gets absolutely frigid during the night.” She grinned before slipping underneath the blankets of her bed. “Of course I have three extra heaters that keep me company.” As she said it, Blizzard and Popsicle hopped up to join their master in bed. Sleet on the other hand flopped on top of Tango, nuzzling her head into his side. 

“Sleet leave him alone” Ice protested

  
“No it’s fine” Tango laughed.  **_Ice is right it is like having an extra heater._ ** Sleet’s thick gray fur acted like an insulator against his side. Tango yawned as the extra heat produced by his own body, along with Sleet’s body heat and the thick blankets made him extremely drowsy. He let out another yawn before closing his eyes and drifting off into a deep and peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is an edited chapter. To Kekiro who told me to Italicize the thoughts of the characters. This is for you. I hope you enjoy this new version. Thanks and Goodbye


	2. New Faces and New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xisuma is extremely confused as to how this random girl managed to get into the world. Ice is just as hopeless. Tango is just soft with the animals in the background. Oh and Impulse is there too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Icypolargirl78 here. Thanks for making it to the second chapter of my fanfiction. Once again I recognize that each of the characters portrayed in this fic are real people with their own preferences. If at any point any of them state that they are uncomfortable with this type of media I will delete my work. That being said I do accept constructive criticism and kudos are appreciated. Love the author, Icypolargirl78.

Xisuma was killing a zombie when his communicator buzzed. He thrust his sword into the creatures decaying flesh resulting in a wet squelch as the diamond sword passed through liquified organs and deteriorating muscle tissue. The zombie crumpled to the ground before exploding into white smoke and leaving only a few scraps of rotten flesh behind. 

X flipped open the small device attached to his wrist and read the message that was sent to him. 

Tango: _Hey X_

Xisuma: _Yeah what is it? Did you find enough blue ice?_

Tango: _Well no, but I did find something else you should see, You should come here now. Here are the coordinates_

Xisuma: _I’ll be right there._

X shut the communicator and looked over at the sun. It was low in the sky and there would be plenty of mobs dotting the world when it finally set. He was sure that Tango wouldn’t mind if he slept first, so he retreated to his base and flopped down on the soft mattress of his bed. He reached up and unlocked the clasps that secured his helmet. He took a deep breath, and was thankful that the filtration system Doc had set up was working. As a void walker it was difficult for him to breath the overworld air for long periods of time without suffocating. He could manage without his helmet for a few minutes at most, but then it felt like someone was pressing an anvil down on his chest, slowly crushing the air out of his lungs. 

**_I wonder what Tango could’ve possibly found._ ** Xisuma pondered. **_Maybe a new mob or perhaps a cool building material. The possibilities could be endless._ **He ran his fingers through his thick hair. He yawned, being an admin was tiring and it certainly took a toll on his mind as well as the strain from the beginning of each new world made his body sore. He pulled the blankets over his head and fell into a deep slumber. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was cold when Ice woke up, but she was used to it. The tundra’s crisp wind kept her awake and alert during the day and the cuddle pile she formed with her furry companions during the night kept her warm. Not to mention her large feathery wings could be wrapped around her like a makeshift blanket to provide a bit of extra heat. The early morning sun peeked over the horizon casting it’s bright light over the pure white landscape. 

Ice pushed the thick woolen blankets off her body and stretched. Her wings extended to their full length as she got the aches and cramps that came with sleeping in the same position for most of the night. Blizzard bounded up to her and she leaned down to scratch him behind the ears. She placed a kiss on top of his head and his tail wagged. A loud meow alerted her to Popsicle who was sitting on top of her crafting table, his tail swaying side to side in a hypnotic like motion. She walked over to him and scooped him into her arms much to his disliking. He settled down though and let himself be pet until she set him back down. Ice looked around for Sleet and found the wolf curled into the side of Tango, her visitor from yesterday. 

**_Aw that’s adorable._ **Ice thought, before moving to open one of her chests. She grabbed a few fish and other meats to feed her pets. She left the fish in front of Popsicle who purred happily, and placed half of the mixture of pork, mutton, and beef in a bowl for Blizzard who dug in with gusto. At the smell of meat Sleet raised her head and jumped up to eat. As she did so, she stepped on Tango’s stomach which woke him up with a large. “Oof”. Ice scratched Sleet’s head as she bent down to fill up another bowl with the dog food. 

“Morning sleepy head.” Ice could barely contain her giggles as Tango looked around groggily, sleep still present in his eyes. “I was gonna let you wake up on your own, but Sleet had other ideas.” At the mention of her name, said wolf looked up from the bowl before turning back to finish. Tango groaned and pulled the covers over his head again. Blizzard, who had finished his food, walked over to where Tango was and began pawing at the blankets in an attempt to ‘dig’ Tango out.

“Alright, alright. I’m up” Tango pulled the covers down and swung his legs over the side of the mattress. Blizzard barked and wagged his tail obviously proud of ‘saving’ Tango from the evil blankets. Tango laughed and gave the wolf a few scratches on his stomach making Blizzard’s tail thump. 

Sleet also finished her meal and sat down near to Ice’s feet content to stay by her master’s side until needed. Popsicle was nearly done with the last of the fish, when he began to hiss. Ice looked over to see what was wrong when she spotted it. 

A stray. The withered skeleton was hidden under a rocky outcropping shielded from the harmful sunlight that would’ve normally destroyed it. Ice reached into her pack and retrieved her sword, it’s diamond blade glinting in the light. 

“Tango, stay here.” Ice ordered

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Tango sounded worried, but nodded in understanding when Ice pointed out the Stray with her blade. Sleet stood and let out a low growl. Her lips were peeled back to reveal sharp canines. Ice’s feathers bristled as she flapped her wings to pull her body into the air. Once she was a good 20 feet high she gave one quick snap of her wings, which propelled her forward. The stray didn’t even get a chance to draw its bow before Ice’s sword was slashing through its body. Bones brittle from the cold air broke easily and the stray’s entire body collapsed before turning into smoke leaving only its bow and a few tipped arrows in its wake. She carefully picked up the arrows making sure not to prick herself on the sharpened tips. As she tried to pick up the bow it crumbled in her hands.

“That was amazing.” Tango had trotted over to where Ice was standing, Sleet and Blizzard not far behind him. She smiled.

“Not really, anyone could have easily killed that thing. Now how ‘bout I make breakfast. I’m sure you're hungry.” 

“Oh that’s not necessary, I’m not hungry at all.” Tango blushed as a growl ripped through the quiet air. 

“Your stomach says otherwise.” Ice smirked “Now come one, it might not be much, but bread, baked potatoes, and apple slices is pretty a good breakfast.” The pair headed back and Tango sat down on the bed, as Ice put a few potatoes into a furnace, and began to slice a loaf of bread and a couple of apples. 

“Do you want any help?” Tango looked uncomfortable.

“Nope, the potatoes are nearly done, so we should be ready.” Ice carefully took the steaming potatoes out of the furnace. She set them down on top of a thick slice of bread along with a cut up apple. She carried both plates over to where Tango was sitting and handed him one. Tango bit into the potato and grinned after he swallowed the bite. 

“This is delicious, best baked potato I’ve ever had.” 

“That’s ridiculous, all I did was add some salt, pepper, and butter.” Ice ripped off a chunk of bread and tossed it to the wolves who both scrambled to get to the treat. She took a bit out of one of the apple slices and tossed another hunk of break to the wolves. 

“They’re very well trained.” Tango gestured to the pair rolling around on the ground. 

“Yeah, I found Sleet with an injured paw, and Blizzard refused to leave her side, so I decided to adopt them both. They’re both lovable dorks and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.” She smiled fondly at both dogs. “Popsicle wasn’t happy though, but he’s gotten more comfortable around them.”

Tango smiled and finished the last of his apple while Ice spoke. Sleet trotted over and set her head on his lap with a clear ‘Pet me’ look in her eyes. Tango obliged and stroked her soft gray fur and scratching behind her ears. 

“Do you mind if I go play with them in the snow.” Tango looked excited at the prospect.

“Not at all, they both need a little exercise.” 

“Thanks” he grinned and jumped up. Sleet looked a bit miffed that her petting had been cut short, but soon followed Tango when he picked up a large stick. Blizzard also jumped up and bounded after him. 

Ice smiled at the sight of both her companions tumbling over one another. **_Tango is so nice, but I wonder when his friend is arriving?_ **Ice got her answer in the sound of two pairs of footsteps walking across the snowy grass. She got up from her bed and stretched her wings before shooting across the field. She flew low to the ground and if she reached down her fingertips just barely touched the frosty grass. Once she was a good 50ft. away from the two people she slowed and touched down. The wind generated by her wings kicked up drifts of snow in all directions. She walked the rest of the way and was soon able to get a good look at both of them. 

Both of them were male, but one was wearing a helmet that obscured most of his face save for his eyes which could be seen through a purple tinted visor. He wore a set of gray armour with a pair of tan combat boots. The other male was wearing a simple black t-shirt with a golden creeper face on it, a pair of gray shorts, and a set of black shoes. He was clearly not prepared for the cold weather as he was shivering and had his arms wrapped around him. The man also had a set of draconic wings that sprouted from his back, a set of horns curved up from his skull and parted his short brown hair. Ice was also correct in assuming he had a tail when it swung around and kicked up snow when it brushed against the ground. There were also patches of black and gold scales dotted in several places like his neck, cheeks, and wrists. 

“It’s sooooo cooooooold” The dragon complained.

“Well maybe you should’ve dressed appropriately when I told you where we were going.” The helmet wearing man responded.

“I didn’t know it was going to be this cold, I thought you were exaggerating” he whined “Where’s Tango? He can be my personal heater. I thought he was supposed to meet us here. Didn’t you say he had something cool to show us?” 

Ice walked the 20 foot or so distance to reach the pair who looked up when they heard her footsteps, which sounded crunchy due to the hardened snow. 

“Um hello, are you the friends Tango mentioned?” Ice asked cautiously

“Yes we are. Wait where is Tango?” The helmed one responded looking around. Ice pointed in the direction of Tango. The dragon cupped his hands over his mouth.

“TANGOOOO!” his voice traveled over the snow covered landscape and Tango looked up and caught sight of the trio. He waved and began to run over to them; Sleet and Blizzard darted ahead of him easily reaching the group before him. Both wolves barked happily and sniffed the new people. Tango finally caught up to them. He was grinning, his face flushed from the cold and Ice could see puffs of steam as his breath hit the frosty air. 

“Xisuma, Impulse. Meet Ice. Ice meet Xisuma and Impulse.” Tango grinned at both of his friends as Xisuma stuck his hand out and Ice shook it. Impulse on the other hand wrapped his arms around Tango’s chest nuzzling his head into the blonde’s neck. His horns poked a bit at Tango’s face but the fire elemental was happy to return the hug. 

“Dude, not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing?” He smiled as he asked the question

“Tango, it’s cold as FUCK, and not all of us can generate our own fire to keep us warm. So you're my personal heater for the time being.” Impulse snuggled even closer into his friend with that was possible. 

**_Aw that’s super cute._ **Ice thought to herself, then aloud, "Language"

“So how exactly did you manage to get into our world.” Xisuma looked very confused. Ice looked down at the ground. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tango spoke up instead.

“Ice has amnesia, she can’t remember anything but her name and the name of her cat. She says that she just woke up in the middle of this field. I figured you might be able to help her.” The red-eyed boy stroked Impulse’s hair as he spoke. 

“I see.” X looked at Ice who gave him a small smile showing her fangs. “Ice, I see no problem with you staying here, but I would like you to introduce yourself to the rest of the hermits first. I’m happy to have you here, and I’m sure the rest of us will be too.” 

Ice leaned forward and wrapped Xisuma in a hug her large wings curled around the two of them. “You have no idea how much this means to me.” She whispered, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes. 

“Oh Ice why are you crying?” X reached up to brush the tears away from the corners of her eyes. 

“Honestly I’m not really sure, but what I do know is that I’m happy! Thanks to you Zuzu” She grinned at the nickname, feathers poofing up in joy

“Zuzu, I like it.” Tango beamed 

“It suits you X.” Impulse agreed 

“Well Keralis calls me Shishwammy and Grian has taken to mispronouncing my name as badly as possible so I see no problem with Zuzu” X untangled himself from Ice’s arms and patted the top of her head. Her ears twitched as he did so. “I can probably introduce you to the rest of the hermits today, but we can do it whenever you feel ready.”

**_I want to make as many friends as possible. I don’t know why but I have the feeling I used to be very lonely. Having people who care about me makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside._ **

“I think I’ll be ready as soon as you guys are, plus I think Impulse needs to get out of the cold. He looks ready to turn into a dragon icicle.” She snickered looking at the dragon who was still shivering despite the fact that Tango was hugging him as tight as he could without hurting him. 

“Finally SOMEONE noticed!” Impulse looked up grinning 

“Oh what am I chopped mutton.” Tango pushed Impulse into the snow and pretended to look offended. “I give you my body heat, my unconditional love and support, and you break my heart like this. I thought we were friends.”

“Idiots both of you I swear.” X sighed and shook his head

“Well I think it’s sweet.” Ice responded

“Yeah X join us in our idiocy” Tango walked over and grabbed Xisuma in a huge. He also grabbed Ice who was much more accepting of the hug. Impulse joined them and his massive wings encircled them all. Unfortunately X continued to squirm causing the four of them to toppled into the snow. Sleet and Blizzard barked and jumped over them causing more snow to cover them all. Once Ice started laughing it was all over. Tango joined in and then Impulse and then finally Xisuma until all of them were giggling out of control.

“Okay I think we should head back to the main area before it becomes night and we all die a horrible gruesome death.” X suggested

“Okay okay we’ll calm down.” Tango stood up and offered a hand to Impulse who took it and also got to his feet. Ice brushed herself off ruffling her feathers until all the snow was shaken out. 

“Sleet, Blizzard.” Ice turned to her wolves which stood at attention upon hearing their names. “I’m going to need you guys to guard my base and protect Popsicle until I get back. Okay?” Both dogs wagged their tails and began trotting back the pile of chests giving one last bark in their master’s direction.

“You sure they’ll be okay?” Tango asked

“Oh yeah they lived by themselves for a while so I’m sure they can defend themselves.” Ice turned to face the three hermits. “Now Zuzu is right, the sun is going to set in a few hours and I have no interest being eaten by zombies.” 

“All right then let’s head out.” X began walking in the direction he and Impulse came from. 

“Hey wait up” Tango and Impulse raced after him. Ice took one last look at the forms of her pets before walking off with her new companions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you made it to the end. Congratulations. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will hopefully have the next chapter out by next week, but with school starting, I can't guarantee anything. Oh I'm also planning on starting a shipping oneshot book so be on the look for that. It will have the same ships as listed in the tags here, excluding the Hels ship since I haven't introduced my Helsona yet, but once they've made their debut I will start including one shots including them.


	3. Introductions are Hard (I should know I'm Anti-social.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice meet the rest of the hermits. Oh and BadTimesWithScar gets a new roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I'm sorry for posting this so late. I really didn't have much motivation to write this chapter since I was basically coming up with ways to introduce hermits over and over again. It became very repetitive and difficult to write. I introduce my helsona (essentially Ice's evil clone like Evil Exisuma and Helsknight.) She's not a villain but an antagonist. Once again I will say that I do recognize that the characters portrayed in my works are real people. If any of the hermits state that they are uncomfortable with this type of media, I will delete this work immediately. I always appreciate kudos and comments of support and constructive criticism. More notes at the bottom.

Grian hated the water. It wasn’t like it did anything wrong, but swimming too and from his ship in a bottle base with waterlogged wings was definitely annoying. He was trying to dry his feathers when his communicator pinged. 

Xisuma: Hey everyone I have an announcement. Please meet me in the shopping district

Grian: Be right there

Mumbo: I shall be there as well

The rest of hermits responded with mostly the same responses, except Impulse and Tango, who didn’t answer. Grian swam back out of his shipwreck, his wings propelling him towards the surface. He breached the water and headed over to the sandy shore. 

“Grian!” A posh voice called out. Grian looked up to see Mumbo standing only a few feet away from him. The moustached man offered a hand to the winged hermit and he accepted gratefully. He shook the water from his feathers spraying the droplets everywhere. 

“Ack! Grian watch it.” Mumbo laughed holding his hands up to try and shield himself. 

“Should we head to the shopping district together?” Grian asked, smiling at his friend. 

“I suppose I can stand to be around you for a little longer.” Mumbo answered looking rather proud of his witty response

“You Mumbo Jumbo are a spoon, now catch me if you can.” The winged hermit dashed forward kicking up a trail of sand behind him. He could hear Mumbo’s footsteps as the taller of the two quickly gained on him. Suddenly a hand grabbed the back of his sweater forcefully bringing him to a halt. His winging flared in surprise and he felt himself being lifted into the arm of the other. He quickly wrapped his own arm around the other’s neck to avoid falling. 

“Caught you.” Mumbo’s face lifted into a cheery smile as he carefully set Grian back down. 

“Geez lovebirds get a room would you.” A voice came from the ocean behind them. 

Jevin stepped out of the boat and onto solid ground. He walked towards the pair, his slime-like body jiggling as he moved. A smug grin was plastered onto his face. Grian could feel his face heating up in a blush and he was sure that his cheeks were now the same shade of red as his shirt. 

“Were not a couple.” Mumbo mumbled his face also a deep shade of crimson

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.” Jevin had a look of pure elation at teasing his friends. 

“Let’s just go.” Grian began to power walk to the shopping district which thankfully was very close to the beach. He climbed up the large hill and his destination came into view.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Xisuma stood in the center of the shopping district, along with Tango, Impulse and Ice. The winged female looked nervous, and X walked over to her. 

“Don’t worry Ice, the hermits are very nice, some of them do look a little intimidating, but we’re always very welcoming to new members.” The admin put a hand on Ice’s shoulder, and the shorter looked up at him. 

“I’m not nervous about them hurting me, I know that you’re all very good people, it’s just I get the feeling that I was very lonely before I came here.” She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling as she did so. A thunk came from the nearby tree. Both of them turned to see a person wearing a tattered lab coat stuck in the branches of the oak. Tango and Impulse both burst out in laughter, while Ice looked concerned. The branches of the tree apparently didn’t enjoy being put under that much strain and snapped sending the person plummeting to the ground. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ice rushed over to the person and pulled them to their feet. She finally got a good look at them now that they weren’t stuck in a tree. The man had ruffled shaggy brown hair, and a single brown eye, the other eye was replaced by metal plating and a glowing red orb set into the socket. He was wearing a lab coat that was ripped in several places and had many odd stains. He had a metal arm and Ice could see metal plating on his neck and collar bone. His skin was a sickly green much like a creeper, and though he looked more annoyed than angry, he was still intimidating. 

**_I guess this is what Zuzu meant by some of the hermits looking scary., but not really being all so bad._ **Ice thought reaching up to pick some of the twigs that had been lodged in the hermit’s hair. He brushed her hand off and glared at Tango and Impulse. 

“You two think this is sooo funny, don’t you?” He glowered at them and they stopped laughing.

“Sorry Doc, but that landing was just perfect.” Tango wiped a fake tear from his bright red eyes. 

“Yeah it was.” Impulse agreed 

“Are you alright?” Ice looked at Doc with concern. **_That landing looked rough and that fall couldn’t have been good for him_ **

“To answer your question, yes I’m fine.” Doc turned to Xisuma and gestured towards Ice. “I presume she is what you called all of us here for. As he walked over to X he winced, like putting weight on his leg hurt. Ice’s ears twitched and she could hear the bones in his lower leg crunch together

“H-hey um, your leg’s injured. You probably shouldn’t walk on it.” Ice stuttered briefly before continuing on with her sentence. 

Doc turned to give her a look of surprise. “How exactly did you know that?”

“U-um, well you were limping, and I could hear the damaged bones in your leg. My hearing is really sensitive, I don’t think your leg is broken, just fractured.” Ice walked over to where X and Doc were standing and knelt, she placed her hand over the spot where he was injured and a pale white mist covered the area. It glowed for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air. Ice felt a bit woozy and she sat down fully to let the fog in her head clear. 

Doc let out a groan and tested his leg. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, what kind of crazy voodoo bullshit spell did you cast on me?” 

“First of all language, and second of all it’s not crazy voodoo magic, it’s a healing spell. Thirdly I have absolutely no idea of how I did that, nor did I have any idea that I could do healing magic, so don’t even bother asking.” 

Xisuma looked impressed from beneath his helmet, and looked down at Ice you had moved from sitting to lying on the grassy ground. “Are you alright Ice?”

Ice raised her head and gave him a thumbs up. “I’m fine just feel really tired after doing that.” 

“Hey Shishwammy, what’s up.” A male with large brown eyes and brown hair was grinning at the small group of people gathered around. Standing next to him was another brown haired male, though his irises were more of a caramel shade. “Bubbles and I were just talking about what you might be showing us. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Keralis.” He reached out his hand and Ice shook it. 

“I’m Ice, it’s nice to meet you Keralis” 

“And I’m Bdubs or Bubbles whichever suits you.” The other man grinned at her and she smiled back. “That magic you did on Doc’s leg was pretty impressive although I wouldn’t expect a thank you from him. He’s not the most polite person.” He smirked in Doc’s direction which resulted in a sneer and a middle finger from the cyborg. 

“Hey guys, looks like we’re not late.” Ice stood up, finally feeling like her head wasn’t stuffed with cotton. A man and woman were walking towards them. Both had brown hair, though the woman’s was a much lighter shade. They both had dark coffee brown eyes, well kind of. The man had one eye showing, the other was covered by what appeared to be some kind of prosthetic, Ice honestly couldn’t tell. The woman wore a plain white shirt with a soft pink cardigan over the top. The man wore a green shirt with a pair of blue jeans. 

(Could one of you tell me what the heck Iskall's weird eye piece is supposed to be, cause I have no clue.)

“Stress, Iskall, meet Ice. Ice meet Stress and Iskall, two of our hermits who like yourself chose to live in the middle of a frozen wasteland, though they’re living out in icebergs rather than on the tundra.” 

“Hello love, aren’t you just adorable.” Stress gave Ice a big hug. “Welcome to our little family.” 

Ice returned the hug and nodded at Iskall’s smile. 

“Zedaph!” Impulse and Tango ran over to another male. This one had blonde hair like Tango, but instead of bright red eyes, his glittered like amethyst’s. He also had curved goat horns sticking out of his curly hair. He had a very sweet smile plastered across his face as he embraced the fire elemental and dragon. 

“La la la, I can’t hear you Jevin.” A male wearing a red sweater was holding his hand over his ears. He also had large wings with vibrant gold and brown feathers, Ice could see that he was taller than her though not by much. Trailing behind the avian were two other people, one had raven black hair, pointed ears, and was wearing a suit. He was also extremely tall, and Ice assumed he was a least a good 2 feet taller than she was. The other was a blue slime, wearing a white hoodie and sweatpants. The taller one’s face was tinged pink while the slime looked smug. Ice could infer that the slime must be Jevin. 

“Ah Grian, Mumbo, Jevin, nice of you to join us” X smiled

“Guys hurry up, we’re gonna be late.” Another group joined the convened hermits. This time it included 3 males and 2 females. One of the males was covered in shiny silver armour, the helmet decorated with a red plume on top. He was a dragon like Impulse, but his scales were a bright silver, with a tint of red. Walking alongside him was a tall red headed female with mint green skin. She had bright green eyes and there were flowers braided into her long hair. She wore a tattered green shirt that exposed a few of her ribs. She had on a pair of black shorts and a set of black and white striped socks. The other girl had blonde hair the color of corn, and bright sky blue eyes. She had what appeared to be a pair of mechanical wings strapped to her back. She was wearing a white and red striped shirt with a dark green jacket over top. Like the zombie girl she also was wearing black shorts, and her hands were obscured by a pair of leather gloves. One of the other males was a neko, with brown cat ears on the top of his head, his tail swished from side to side as he moved. He had a line of scars running across his face, his green eyes glittered like emeralds. The last person was an older man with a graying beard and blue eyes. Like Doc he wore a lab coat and his was much cleaner and didn’t have any tears or rips. 

“All right now we just wait for Ren, Jess, Python, Biffa, TFC, and Joe.” X stated.

“Oh Xisuma, TFC messaged me and said he won’t be able to make it, apparently a creeper destroyed part of his base, and he wants to fix it. He says he sends his regards though.”

“Thank you for the information Stress.” The admin nodded at the other hermit. 

“Hey sorry we’re late, Jess wouldn’t stop fussing over his hair.” A werewolf with brown fur and hair, glared at a figure that was covered from head to toe in black. “We can’t even see your hair.” Jess’s face was covered by a mask that obscured everything but his eyes and a few pieces of brown hair. 

“Excuse me, but at least I care about my looks. When was the last time YOU brushed your hair.” Jess huffed at the werewolf

“Okay Jess, your hair looks fine, and Ren leave him alone.” One of the other hermits, a creeper with red skin looked rather annoyed at his bickering friends.

“Let your anger wash away like rain after a storm.” A man with brown hair wearing a pair of glasses spoke up.

“Hey Joe real quick, what the actual fuck does that mean?” The last in the group was wearing a helmet like Xisuma, though his was colored a bright red and had yellow accents. His armour was the same color scheme, but the red was a bit brighter. 

“OKAY, now that everyone is here, I can finally get to why I called you all here.” X clapped his hands to get their attention as he spoke. “As many of you have probably noticed we have one extra person with us today.” He gestured towards Ice, who blushed at the sudden spotlight. “This is Ice, she’s going to be joining us from now on. I would like everyone to welcome her.” He leaned down to whisper something in her ear. “ _Would it be alright if I told everyone about your amnesia?_ ” Ice nodded. “She has also lost her memory, so please try not to overwhelm her.”

Ice opened her mouth to speak. “I know that I probably don’t know any of you as well as you know each other, but I hope that we can all become great friends.” She gave them a sweet smile.

The rest of the hermit each came up to her and gave her their welcome before heading back to their bases. After they all left Ice spread her wings and flew back to the tundra where all her equipment was. Sleet and Blizzard barked happily and Popsicle meowed his hello. She sat down on her bed to watch the sunset on the horizon. 

(Oh my gosh that was difficult to write. It was hard because I was essentially repeating myself during this part. Hopefully the next part of this chapter is less repetitive.)

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe pissing off his new roommate wasn’t such a good idea. The female sitting in front of him certainly didn’t look happy. Bad only really had himself to blame for that though. He thought back to how he ended up in this situation. 

  
  


It was a typical day in the nether, the ghasts were screaming and everything was on fire. Bad was used to the heat and sulfur filled air even though it burned his lungs every time he took a breath. The light emitted from the lava lakes reflected off his crimson armour. A sharp pinpoint of light was suddenly angled into his eyes, he looked around and his eyes fell onto a blade that was sticking out from a tall spiral of netherrack. He walked over to the sword and realized that it was attached to an arm and that arm was attached to a woman. The female was unconscious, lying face down on the ground. She had long black hair, and a pair of wings with ash black feathers were attached to her back. As Bad’s eyes trailed down her body he noticed a small furry tail sticking out a hole in her armour. He slowly pried the sword out of her hands which were the only part of her body that showed just how oddly colored her skin was. It was a mix of dark gray and black, giving her the effect of looking partially dead or decaying. Bad noticed a name engraved into the hilt of the blade, Fir. **_Odd name._ **He thought. 

“Ugh” She groaned and shifted rolling over onto her side. Her eyes opened revealing bright yellow irises and cat’s eye pupils. She blinked against the bright light of the nether. Her eyes came into focus, specifically on her blade in his hand. She growled and tackled him, wrenching her weapon out of his hand. She landed on top of him and pressed the sharp edge into the soft flesh of his throat. He reached up and pressed his clawed hand into her wrist, causing her to hiss.

“Please.” Bad choked out. “I wasn’t trying to attack you.”

“Oh then why did you have my sword in your hand, while I was unconscious.” Her blade was pressed further into his neck and Bad could feel a glob of blood dribble down his throat. “Bullshit, do you honestly think I’d believe you.” 

Bad kicked up and his foot connected with her stomach. The kick forced her backward, and the sword pressed into his skin was removed. She let out a groan. “Look Fir I don’t want to fight you.” 

She stopped and had a mixture of confusion and anger on her face. “My name isn’t pronounced like the tree, it’s pronounced Fear.” 

“Okay then why is spelled so dumb?”

“That’s none of your GODDAMN BUSINESS!” She had gotten to her feet and now had her sword leveled at him again. He also stood up and drew his own blade, a rapier made of iron. Fir lunged at him and he parried her blade, the sound of metal on metal ringing out in the empty air. She darted to the side using her wings to jump high into the air. Her foot connected with his shoulder and Bad could feel it dislocate as a searing pain spread throughout his arm. He struggled not to scream at the pain. The avian smirked and landed right in front of him, sending the tip of her sword into the kink in his armour, burying the point into his flesh. This, paired with the fact that it was nearly impossible to raise his own weapon without further injuring his shoulder, made him drop his blade.

“Alright, I surrender. Don’t kill me please.” He collapsed onto his knees clutching his arm. The fact that the wound on his throat was still bleeding, although the flow had slowed considerably, made his nostrils fill with the scent of iron. 

“Fine, I'll show you mercy, if you help me.” She extended a hand and he accepted it with his none wounded arm. She grabbed his other shoulder and renched it back into place, causing Bad to let out a yelp. “Wimp” She growled. 

“You just injured me, then healed, said injury, and now you're calling me a wimp. Jeez, you're ruthless. Now you said you wanted my help, so how can I be of service to you?” He looked her dead in the eyes, seeing the malicious glint that shone in them. 

“I want you to tell me where I am, and how I got here.”

“Well to answer the first question, you’re in the nether, and to answer the second, why in the void would I have any idea of how you got here?” 

“First off dipshit, I know I’m in the nether, I meant what world am I in. Also I asked the second question since I have absolutely no fucking clue of how I ended up here. I didn’t ask for the sass.” Her tone pissed Bad off, purely due to the fact that she spoke to him like he was a child. 

“Well you're in the Hermitcraft world.” 

“Let me guess you pissed someone off and now you live in this hell hole out of fear.” She smirked

“No, I live here because no one else wants me around in the overworld.” Bad had no idea why he was admitting this to a random chick who looked like a demon. 

“Same here, my old world wasn’t exactly the nicest.” She sheathed her sword and stuck her hand out. “I’m sorry for trying to kill you, name’s Fir.”

He shook her hand. “It’s fine, I’m used to things trying to kill me, name’s Bad by the way. Why don’t we head back to my base, it’s not much, but it’s home.” The pair began to walk, Bad leading the way and Fir trailing behind. 

**_Just for that little dislocation and sass she gave me I’m going to shove her into a lava lake._ **In hindsight Bad should’ve known this was a bad idea, for one thing Fir could fly, Bad could not. Another reason this was a bad idea, was due to the fact that the female was obviously a skilled fighter, and could’ve easily killed Bad earlier. Still he ignored all reason and as soon as the ledge that led to his hole in the wall base came into view, he made a big flourish with his arm and let the avian pass in front of him. His foot hooked under her’s and she sprawled forward and went tumbling over the edge, plummeting towards the fiery lava lake bellow. 

That was his mistake, because her wings snapped open and the updraft created by the heat sent her soaring upwards towards the nether ceiling. The look of pure rage on her face sent Bad running into his house and blocking the entrance behind him. Her fist came flying scarily close to his face and he squeaked in fear (Ha ha puns, Kill Me Please). Her clawed hand wrapped around his throat. 

“WAIT, WAIT! Let’s talk about this.” He begged

“The fuck is there to talk about, you tried to shove me into a lava lake, though if you had any brain cells left in that empty head of yours, you would know that I can fly, dumbass.” Her voice was a mixture of mocking and rage. “But I’m feeling merciful today, so you have 30 seconds to calm my anger.” 

“Okay I was pissed at you for dislocating my shoulder so I thought I’d shove you into the lava as revenge. I didn’t think it through, but can we call a truce. You tried to kill me and I just tried to kill you, so we can call it even.” Bad put his hands up in a placate gesture. 

  
  
  


Soooo yeah that was how Bad ended up with a pissed roommate. 

“Hmm okay, as long as I get something.” Her grin was less friendly and more evil

“What do you want?” Bad was hesitant to ask

“I want help preening my wings.” She had a slight blush

“You, what?” Bad was confused

“My feathers are all knocked out of alignment, and it-it’s difficult to preen them by myself.” She glared “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

With that Bad and Fir sat down and she began to show him how to straighten the feathers. When they were almost done, she began to nod off, and Bad picked her up. She yelped.

“Calm down I’m just moving to the sofa.” She settled down and Bad laid her down on the couch, her wings curled around her and she fell asleep, letting out soft snores. Bad smiled.

Maybe this arrangement wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you made it to the end. So to explain what Fir's name is. Her name was originally Fira like the opposite of Ice, but I thought that didn't fit her personality all that well. I shortened it to Fir and it's pronounced like the word Fear. She did name herself and she found that it suited her. Unlike Ice she does have all her memories intact, but I have chosen to have her not discuss her past life as it makes her uncomfortable. To elaborate on Ice's healing, the mist that she can produce acts like waterbending healing from the ALTA and LOK series. Oh and I'm planning on starting another series of fics. They will be oneshots of all my favorite ships. I might take requests but I haven't decided yet. I also plan on creating another series where I go into depth on headcanons, and the species, bios, and personalities of the hermits in my AU, which I will be calling my Multi-Creatures AU. I love you all my little Ice Pops. Icypolargirl78


	4. Scars and Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice finally takes a look at herself. Cleo, False, and Stress are supportive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry it took me so long to update this. The chapter isn't all that long, and just serves to establish character relationship. Specifically the sister like relationships between Ice and the other female's in the world. This takes place about a week and half since Ice first appeared in the world. The next chapter with take place purely in a dream. Once again, if any of the hermits state that they are uncomfortable with this type of media, I will delete my work.

Ice was tired, but proud. It took her a week to build her starter base, which was situated above the rocky outcropping where she’d killed the stray. It was a log cabin with interlocking logs holding up the roof which was an a-frame. It was covered in snow, and icicles hung from the overhang. It was cozy and all three of Ice’s pets seemed to enjoy it. She collapsed onto her bed stretching out her sore wings. She’d taken her heavy armour off, and was now only wearing her clothes. She got up and headed towards the bathroom. 

**_I really need to shower, I think I’m covered in more dirt and snow than Sleet and Blizzard. I have to remember to give them baths too._ ** Her bathroom was covered in polished diorite and quartz, it made it feel like it was full of light even though the only illumination was from a glowing sea lantern hung from the ceiling. Ice started the shower watching as steam began to cover the small room. She turned and stripped off her sweater and as she took off her turtleneck she stopped. The mirror hung above her sink had caught her reflection. That wasn’t what made her stop, it was her reflection itself. In the week since she’d appeared not once had she’d her own reflection. It was too cold for her to take any of her clothes off without freezing. 

From the waist up she was covered in scars. She quickly took the turtleneck off fully and noticed the scars were also covering her arms and hands. Ice had noticed a few pale white lines when her sleeves rode up, but she’d thought nothing of it. Until now. 

**_What happened to me? Is this normal?_ ** Whenever Ice tried to recall anything from her past life it only gave her a splitting headache. It was like her mind was telling her.  _ Nope you don’t need to know this, and if you try to learn I’m gonna ruin your day.  _ Oddly many of the scars on her arms looked self inflicted like she’d taken a knife to them. One of the most prominent scars was on her stomach and stretched from her chest down under her pants. It looked like it was crudely stitched together when it was first inflicted. Many of the other’s look like the tell tale signs of respawn scars, which Ice had asked Tango about, after noticing some on his body. According to him, the scars appeared whenever a hermit died, usually where the worst injury was. 

Ice shut the shower off, and slipped her clothes back on. She picked up her communicator, and added False, Cleo, and Stress into a separate chat. 

Ice: Hey 

Stress: Hello love, what is it

False: What’s up Ice

Ice: Hi, so do you think you could come over to my base, I need to talk to someone

Cleo: Yeah sure, just let me finish this armour stand and I’ll be right over

False: I can head over there now

Stress: Me as well

Ice: Okay thank you so much

She walked out into her kitchen and put a tea kettle over the fire. A few minutes later the kettle whistled and she carefully set it down without burning herself. She poured the water into four mugs, and put in a small bag of peppermint leaves into each one. She was just setting the cups down on her coffee table, when Sleet and Blizzard barked, alerting her to her visitors. A knock on the door sounded. Ice opened the door and False rushed inside, Stress close behind her. 

“Geez it’s cold, how do you both stand it?” False complained her nose cherry red from the frosty air. 

“I’m a druid, and Ice is part polar bear, so the cold doesn’t bother us.” Stress laughed

“Luckily for you Falsey, I just finished making hot tea for all of us.” The other avian grinned and pulled both Stress and Ice in for a hug.

“Darn it, I hoped I’d be here first.” the zombie wrapped her cold arms around her friends, grinning. Then she reached down to pet Sleet, and scratch Blizzard behind the ears. Popsicle jumped into Stress’s arms and the druid put the cat around her shoulders, like a furry scarf. The four of them sat down and Cleo sipped her tea. The fire crackled in the corner, and False’s face soon returned to its normal shade. 

“Thank you for the tea Ice, it’s wonderful.” Stress gave the ursagrif a soft smile. “Now what is it that you wanted to talk about.”

“Yeah, as much as I enjoy hanging out with you for fun, that text sounded urgent.” False set her teacup down, and focused her attention on the smaller avian. 

Ice took a deep breath. “So I had just finished my base and was covered in dirt, and snow, and dust. I wanted to take a shower, so I did. Ever since I got here I haven’t really taken a good look at myself. When I took my shirt off, well I guess it’s just easier to show you.” Ice walked over to her bedroom, with the others trailing behind. She took her clothes off, and Stress let out a gasp.

“Oh my goodness Ice what happened?!”

“I honestly don’t know, I just looked in the mirror and well.” She gestured to the pale lines that decorated her body. “Maybe I just died a lot?” Her voice was questioning, and False nodded.

“Yeah maybe you were just really reckless, that would explain all the scarring.” But Cleo shook her head

“That still wouldn’t account for all the smaller scars on her arms and hands. Those are too miniscule to be caused by respawning. Even if you were really clumsy, some of those are too, well, intentional looking.” She winced as she implied what Ice had been thinking earlier.

“That’s what I noticed too. Maybe memory loss makes you feel less suicidal.” Ice meant it as a joke, but she knew her tone didn’t portray that. 

Ice put her shirt and sweater back on. Normally she didn’t like the fact that the sleeves of her turtleneck slid past her fingertips, but now she was. The scars disturbed her, and caused a torrent of questions to rush through her head, like a flood.  **_Why do I have these? What happened to me? How did I get here?_ **

“Ice do you need us to stick around a little longer.” Stress’ voice was filled with sympathy, and her eyes glowed with worry.

“No, if you need to work on other stuff, I can manage by myself. I really appreciate you guys stopping your projects, to talk to me.” In reality Ice wanted to talk for hours, but she knew that her friends had more important matters. 

“It was no problem Ice, feel free to stop by my ship anytime you need to talk.” Cleo gave her a hug goodbye and then left.

“Yeah, the tea was delicious, and I’m glad I could help.” False waved before opening the window and flying into the frosty air.

Stress closed the window and set Popsicle down on the floor. The druid gave Ice one last look before she walked out of the room and back to her iceberg home. 

The avian sighed and flopped down on her bed, Sleet and Blizzard nuzzled into her side, and Popsicle perched himself on the pillow. With a groan Ice sat up. She might as well take a shower. She did so, carefully keeping her wings out of the direct spray of the water. Soggy feathers were always a hassle. After she’d gotten dressed in a pair of thick wool pajamas, with holes cut out in the back for her wings. She sat down on her bed with a bottle of lavender scented oil. Slowly and meticulously she began to preen her feathers. Even though it was an essential part of her life, it was still annoying. Each feather how to be put back into alignment, and cleaned of any dirt. The process was long and quite tedious, but necessary. If she didn’t do it now, it would become difficult to fly, and her wings could start to become sore. 

Once she was finished she looked out her window. Ice hadn’t noticed how much time had passed, it was nearly twilight. She got up and fed her pets, and then got a slice of bread and a thick slab of chicken for herself. After her meal she stoked the fire once more, before wrapping herself under the thick wool quilts, and dozing off into an exhaustive induced slumber. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay you made it to the end. I really hate writing dialogue. This is so bad why are you reading this. I always accept constructive criticism and support in the comments. Kudos are appreciated. Also, my other series, is bios for each of the hermits, so which hermit do you guys want to know most about. Please leave that hermit in the comments.


	5. Nightmares and Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice has a nightmare. That's it, that's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't been uploading as much. I am in school right now, and my family's currently getting ready to move, so I have to help with that. This chapter is short. Again I am only shipping the personas. If any of the hermits state that they are uncomfortable with this type of media I will delete my work. Kudos and constructive criticism are welcome.

(All Dreams will be in italics)

_ When Ice woke up it was dark, not usual to her since the tundra was always dark in the morning. However she wasn’t in her bed and she was completely alone. Her wings wrapped themselves around her, as she shivered. The air was still, and felt suffocating. Ice’s eyes scanned the void she was inhabiting, they picked up on no color, it was only black. Then the floor dropped out from beneath her, and she plummeted downward. Her wings opened but they fell limp and she kept falling. Ice landed with a thump on the ground, surprisingly her legs didn’t hurt from the impact, only causing her to stagger a bit.  _

_ It was odd. Ice’s surroundings hadn’t changed, but the darkness was lighter now, gray instead of void black. A figure was standing a few yards away. Their form was blurry, and had no distinct features. They looked more like a gray fog than an actual person.  _

  
  


_ “Hey!” Ice called out. The figure turned and she looked into their eyes. Or more so their lack thereof. Instead there was only light. That seemed to be the only solid part of their body. The person turned and ran or glided rather, since their feet never actually moved. Ice ran after them, but no matter how much she pushed herself, she never caught up to them. Instead the distance between them only grew further and further. “Wait! Please!” Ice called out, but the figure only vanished like a gust of wind had dispersed their smokey form.  _

_ Ice collapsed on the ground. She felt tears well up in her eyes. It was odd, she didn’t know why she was crying, but it was like she’d lost someone important. Her wings curled around her body, and Ice’s form shook from the sobs. Her breath was suddenly cut short, as a vice like grip was wrapped around her throat. A pair of bright yellow eyes had appeared in front of Ice. The eyes weren’t attached to a face or a body, but they gleamed with malice. The creature’s chokehold tightened and she reached her hands up, but they grasped at nothing. They fell weakly to her side and spots danced across the avian’s vision. The already dark landscape was becoming more and more blurry. The thing’s slit pupils dilated and shrunk as it watched the air leave her lungs. The last thing Ice heard before she blacked out was a cruel laugh that echoed throughout the void.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you made it to the end. Quick question, do you want the next chapter to be focused entirely around Bad and Fir or should it be about the aftermath of Ice's nightmare. Another option is to make the first half of the next chapter about Ice and the other half about the nether duo. Or should it be about another hermit entirely. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments. Love Icypolargirl78 <3


	6. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice deals with her nightmare, and Fir gets a tour of the nether.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry I've been so inactive. My family's currently in the middle of moving so I have to help with that, plus school occupies a lot of my time. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Once again if any of the hermits state they are uncomfortable with this type of media I will delete my work no questions asked. This took me a lot of time but I tried my best. A disclaimer; I know that I did put ships in the tags, but for right now the shipping will be put on the backburner. I want to establish the characters personalities and how they interact with Fir and Ice. I am however working on a BDoc fic right now so expect that sometime in the future.

Ice woke with a start, her body drenched in a cold sweat, despite the fact that she was still covered in thick wool blankets. Sleet whimpered, and nudged her nose under Ice’s hand. The ursagriff stroked the soft fur behind the wolf’s ears. She shoved the blankets off her body and walked into her bathroom, when her eyes landed on the mirror, she could almost see the glowing yellow eyes. They were familiar somehow, like she’d been in that situation before; being strangled to death by an unseen force. Ice could see her large eyes in her reflection, they looked sad even to her. She remembered crying in the dream, and reached up to feel her cheeks. Her freckles stood out like a spray of stars across her pale skin, and dried tears stuck to her skin like wet paper. 

Ice migrated to the kitchen where she poured water into a kettle. Once it was piping hot, a bag of peppermint leaves was placed inside the mug to steep. She walked onto the balcony overlooking the vast tundra. It was a dumb idea in hindsight, considering the amount of monsters that spawned during the night. The danger was worth it though since stars lit up the night sky, and the full moon hung like a crystal in the sky. Ice’s breath created puffs of vapor as it hit the air, and even though it was cold, it didn’t really bother her. In a way the frosty chill soothed her nerves, and the flavor from the minty tea calmed her racing mind. 

An arrow thunked into the wood below the balcony. Ice jolted up; a stray had its bow aimed at her. She could see the particles from the potion that coated the arrow’s tip. Ice strode back inside to retrieve her own bow. She nocked her arrow and let it fly. It lodged right between its empty eye sockets, causing it to turn and give up its attack. The ursagriff sighed and set her bow down, the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins subsiding. Her tea was cold now, and Ice didn’t see much point to stay outside. Popsicle was perched on the countertop. He gave a mew and hopped down to rub against her legs. His sapphire orbs were filled with worry, and Ice scooped him. His purrs increased in volume as she scratched under his chin. 

A buzz came from her communicator, which was sitting on the table. She picked it up and winced as her eyes adjusted to the light. 

_ Doc: Hey Ice, you awake? _

_ Ice: yup, what do you need. Also when was the last time you slept _

_ Doc: that’s not important, and do you want to see my drown farm _

_ Ice: sleep is important! And yes I do want to see your farm _

_ Doc: if sleep is so important why are you awake!? _

_ Ice: i was stargazing, the night sky is beautiful in the tundra _

_ Doc: see you in the morning :) _

_ Ice: GET SOME SLEEP! _

  
  


Ice set her communicator down, Doc had one of the worst sleep schedules out of all the hermits. When she’d seen him last, the bags under his eyes looked very dark, and he seemed to be running off pure endorphins alone. She picked up her ukulele which had been leaning against the bookshelf. She strummed the strings, pausing to adjust the tune a few times. With a shaky breath she began to sing softly to herself. 

_ Let’s go in the garden, you’ll find something waiting. Right there where you left it lying upside down.  _

The song was melancholy and Ice could vaguely remember a woman singing the song while she played the instrument

_ When you finally find it, you’ll see how it’s faded. The underside is lighter when you turn it around.  _

The faint outline of a house with a steeped roof came into her mind. The outside was covered in vines and foliage, as though the plants had taken over the building. It was strange to see the image of something so familiar yet so distant appear in her mind. 

_ Everything stays, right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes. Ever so slightly, daily and nightly. In little ways when everything stays. _

Ice’s soft voice was shaky, and tears rolled down her face as she sang. The song was ingrained in her memory, like she’d played it many times. The soft strums of the ukelele’s strings filled the quiet room. 

_ Go down to the ocean. The crystal tide is rising, water’s gotten higher as the shore washes out. Keep your eyes wide open. Even when the sun is blazing, the moon controls the tide. It could cause you to drown _

By this time her companions had arranged themselves around the chair she was sitting in. All three of them were quiet, as though they understood the importance of the song. The wipsy figure in the dream solidified in her mind into the hazy face of the woman singing along to the song. 

_ Everything stays, right where you left it. Everything stays, but it still changes. Ever so slightly, daily and nightly. In little ways, when everything stays.  _

Ice’s hands fell into her lap as she strung the last cord on her instrument. The woman’s brown hair framed her face, her bright brown eyes shining as she sang. Tears rolled freely down Ice’s face and her wings wrapped themselves around her. The feathers trembled along with the rest of her small body. Popsicle leaped up on the chain and wormed his way through the feather to plop himself in her lap. His purring brought out soft growls that resonated from deep within Ice’s throat. Sleet and Blizzard whined and Ice slid down to nestle between them. Popsicle curled up tighter into a ball and the two wolves snuggled inside Ice’s now open wings. They wrapped around the quartet and slowly Ice’s sniffles faded. Blizzard reached his head up and sloppily licked away the tears that decorated his owner’s cheeks. 

Ice smiled and gave a hoarse laugh, her throat sore from the crying. Sleet batted her paw and rested it on the ursagriff’s shoulder. The wolf’s soft whimper caused Ice to bundle the wolf into a hug. When she untangled her limbs, a sigh escaped her lungs, and she leaned back against the chair. She stayed that way until the faint light of the dawn streamed across the floor. She was content, the nightmare still there, but not as looming as it was earlier. Ice stretched and got ready for the day, her daily routine of feeding her pets and herself providing an anchor. When she set out for Doc’s base, sword strapped to her waist and mind cleared. She was happy. The added chill brought on by the wind whipping through her long hair as she flew high above the ground, was another reassuring familiarity. She soared through the clouds, her wings outstretched to their fullest length. She felt free, truly and perfectly free. Both from her past and from her nightmares. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  


Fir woke up in an unfamiliar place. The heat surrounding her was nearly suffocating. The stench of sulfur invaded her sense of smell, and the sound of snoring came from a form slumped over in a chair a few feet away. Bad’s brown cat ears twitched and his tail flicked in his sleep. Fir stood and stretched letting her wings extend to their fullest length. The largest of her feathers quivered slightly, and settled back into place as they folded against her back. She could feel her pupils expanding and contracting as they adjusted to the sudden influx of light. 

Bad let out a groan and fell out of the chair. He landed with a grunt on the ground. Fir stood over him, her yellow eyes boring into his green ones. He blinked groggily, his eyes slowly coming into focus. He picked himself off the floor.

“Thanks for the help.” he muttered

“I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet.” She matched his narrowed eyes with a smirk. 

“Hmph” Was the only response she got from the annoyed neko. She surveyed the room. She didn’t get a good look since she was busy trying to kill Bad. It was small with only a table, a pair of chairs, and the sofa Fir had been sleeping on. The only other things in the room were a pair of doors. One led to the outside of the home and the rest of the nether. The other was closed and Fir could only guess to where it led. Maybe a bathroom or bedroom? Her ears twitched as she picked up on the sound of a ghast crying outside the thin netherrack walls of the base. Bad must’ve heard it too since he turned quickly to look at the door. 

“I don’t think it can get to us” Fir said

“Yeah but you can never be too careful. Dying by explosion is pretty painful.” The neko stepped forward to patch the hole in the wall. Fir looked down at her knuckles which ached at the memory of punching right through the material. 

“Er- sorry about your wall Bad.” 

“It’s fine, and since we’re probably gonna be spending a lot of time together. I should tell you that I go by another name.” Bad gave her a fanged grin as he spoke.

“Which is?”

“Oscar” Fir raised an eyebrow.

“Really” She stated, “And you judge me on my poor naming skills. But in my opinion Fir is a way better name than Oscar.” 

“You, don’t have to call me that.” His face was slightly tinted pink in embarrassment. “Just forget I said anything.”

“Aw don’t worry, even if your naming skills are trash. They’re still better than your fighting abilities.” Her smirk grew even bigger. Fir couldn’t help it, the feeling of sheer joy she got out of taunting others was too good to ignore. Plus Oscar was easy to toy with, and his reactions were hilarious. 

Oscar whirled around. “I’ll have you know that my fighting abilities are just fine!” He had an indigent plastered across his face. “In fact I’m one of the best fighters in the nether.”

“That’s not much of a boast considering you’re the only fighter living in the nether, well besides yours truly of course.” She gave a small bow her wings extending slightly to provide some balance. “Unless of course I’m wrong, but that’s hardly ever true.”

Oscar laughed. It was low and raspy, and echoed through the tiny room they stood in. “You're right, besides you I’m the only person who lives in the nether permanently. Of course the wither skeletons do provide good sparring partners, if you can find one that’s up to it.” His tail swished from side to side as he spoke. Fir hadn’t noticed it until now, but she was several inches taller than him. 

“You're short, by the way.” Oscar gave her an exaggerated look of offence. 

“I’ll have you know that I am in fact, 6 feet tall.” He put a hand on his chest and puffed it out. His ears flicked as he spoke. “That is above the average height for a man.” 

“Sure shorty.” She walked over to him, just to display their height difference. He glared up at her and she patted the space between his ears. The look of sheer annoyance he gave her was enough to send the ursagriff into a fit of laughter. Once Fir had calmed down Oscar spoke up.

“You know you’re okay once you're, you know, not trying to kill me.” 

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Fir smirked but it softened into something more akin to an actual smile. It still had some snark, but it was less cruel. “So you wanna give me the grand tour. I’ll go along just so long as you promise not to shove into a lava lake.” 

“Deal!” Oscar gave a flourish of his hand towards the door. “Just make sure the ghast doesn’t fireball you on the way out.” The pair left and Oscar showed Fir as much of the nether that he explored. This included a nether fortress, a vast expanse of lava, and well that was about it. Fir had managed to scare the ever living crap out of her roommate after she’d launched herself off the top of the nether fortress. Her wings had snapped open at the last second, and Oscar’s screams had rang through her ears. When she’d flown back up to join him, he called her a showoff and told her that no amount of fancy flying would save her from being splattered across the ground. She’d told him that he worried too much. 

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since there was no way to distinguish day from night in the fiery hellscape. They had made their way back to the small hole in the wall. While they were in the nether fortress they had picked some nether wart. It was tough and had a funny taste, but it was the only thing they could eat. The pair were sitting on a ledge overlooking the vast lava lake. 

“What was your old world like?” Oscar turned to look at Fir

She stared down at her hands, her fingernails were sharp, and pointed at the ends. “I-I don’t want to talk about it.” She stared out at the lava lake, the bubbling sludge giving off a bright light that reflected in her eyes. 

“Okay, well, I’m not gonna press you. I know how that feels. The rest of the people here don’t really want me around.” He stared down at the ground sadly. “It’s not like I don’t mind, but well it does get kinda lonely.”

“There’s no one else like us here?” Fir asked “Clones I mean?” She found it difficult to believe that none of the normal inhabitants had messed with cloning. Well she assumed Oscar was a clone. What other reason would he hide out here. 

“Well there was one other clone, I guess, but he disappeared. Since then I’ve been the only one here.” 

“What was his name”

“Evil Xisuma, he was the evil version of the admin of the world Xisuma.” Fir looked over at Oscar. His face was sullen and his ears drooped. He looked extremely depressed.

“Well I’m not going anywhere.” Fir stated her voice full of certainty. Oscar reached over and wrapped her into a hug. She tensed for a second before melting into it. The feeling of physical contact was forein to her, but it felt nice. Then they both untangled themselves and Oscar stood. 

“Well we should probably head back. If you want, tomorrow, I’ll show you the overworld.” He grinned showing off his fangs, but it wasn’t aggressive. 

“Fine by me. I’d kill for some actual food.” Fir agreed and the pair headed off towards the house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, you made it to the end. I hope you enjoyed this. I'm think about make the next character bio about Oscar, but it might be EX. I would love to get some constructive criticism down in the comments. I know that my works aren't exactly the best, but I really do hope that they put smiles on some of your faces. Bye for now my little Icicles. Love Ice <3


	7. Ice is short, Doc finds this hilarious.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice is short. Doc needs sleep. They make cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at the last time I uploaded a new chapter, "Well fuck"* 
> 
> Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this. I have like no excuse besides school and writer's block. Please enjoy this fluff, the next chapter will not be so fluffy. Also again if any of the hermits say that they are uncomfortable with this type of thing I will delete my work.

Doc was tired, but that was normal. Maybe spending four days without sleep wasn’t a good idea. But that drowned farm wasn’t going to build itself. Plus the added bonus of being the only one without a trident was well worth the crippling exhaustion he felt. If they were back in their old world Bdubs would be pestering him to sleep nonstop, but now Bdubs was gone along with Etho and Beef, and Doc was all alone. Well not entirely, Iskall had stopped by and so had Mumbo, but they were both working on their own projects. 

He’d been contacted by Xisuma that both Keralis and Bdubs had decided to take a break, and had gone back to their old world. X didn’t know how long this break would last, so yeah now the NHO was officially disbanded. Well no sense, dwelling on the past. 

Currently in the present Doc was sitting on top of his drowned farm, his legs dangling over the edge. It was a long way to the ground, but he had his elytra. The creeper hybrid had to admit that the gray wings didn’t compare whatsoever to the true beauty of an avian like Grian or Ice’s wings. Speaking of Ice she was supposed to be visiting soon. 

Doc really didn’t know what to think of the smaller person. When he’d crashed into that tree, she’d been to the only one to help. Granted Impulse and Tango just laughed, because they knew he’d be fine, and X just looked tired. The admin always looked that way. When she approached him, Doc had been surprised by just how small she was. He was one of the taller hermits, standing at an impressive 6’7, with the only other person taller than him being Mumbo. Doc would admit that even if she was short, the magic she’d used to heal his leg was impressive. Granted a healing potion would’ve probably accomplished the same results. 

Doc was snapped out of his thoughts by a speck of movement on the horizon, it was Ice. The hybrid sighed and began to make his way down to the small platform on the drowned farm. To pass the time Doc spun his trident around trying to see how fast he could spin it without it falling into the ocean below. A gust of wind created by Ice’s wings blew across his face as she landed next to him. Once again he was struck by how short she was. The tips of her ears barely reached past his chest, and as she said hello she craned her neck to look him in the eyes.

“Hello Doc! How are you?” As she smiled her fangs peeked out past her lips. 

“Fine, how bout you?” He returned her grin, his own fangs glinting in the light. 

“Wonderful, I got a good night’s sleep yesterday, after I stargazed for a bit.” Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, but Doc could see that they were a bit bloodshot, like she’d been crying. He decided not to mention it. “I can’t say the same for you though, seriously when was the last time you slept properly Doc.” 

Doc waved his hand in a “don’t worry” gesture. “I’m fine Ice.” At her worried look, he sighed. “Seriously I’m fine, it’s not like this is the first time I’ve pulled four all-nighters in a row.” 

“DOC!” she yelped “That’s not healthy whatsoever.” She gave him a light shove. “Where’s your bed.”

Doc snickered “Geez Ice at least buy me dinner first.” Her face went blank for a minute before his words sank in. Then it turned a bright crimson red, and Doc was sure that if she had human ears they would be the same shade as the rest of her face. 

Ice spluttered a bit. “That-that’s not what I meant.” She buried her face into her hands as her wings wrapped themselves around her. Doc couldn’t even see her face now that it was hidden behind layers of fluffy white feathers. He snickered a bit before placing his non cybernetic hand on top of her head. “It’s not funny.” Her response to his laugh was muffled slightly. 

“Aw Ice I was just joking.” If he was being completely honest with himself, Ice's reactions reminded him of how Bdubs would act whenever the other members of the NHO insulted his height. 

Ice slowly unraveled her wings and brought her hands away from her face. “Hey Doc I have a question.” 

Doc looked down at her. “Sure ask away.”

“Why are you so tall?” Her question caught him slightly off guard, considering Grian had asked him the same thing just a few days ago.

“Why are you so short?” Doc snorted doing his best to hold back a laugh at the look of sheer annoyance that was directed at him. 

“I’m not that short.” Ice muttered

“Hate to break it to you, but you're like 4 foot nothing.” 

She let out a gasp. “Excuse me, I’m 4’8,” with a flap of her wings she was now hovering a few inches above Doc’s head. “There,” she said, “now I’m taller than you.” 

Doc smirked and grabbed her ankle. She let out a squeak as she was suddenly pulled down. He let go of her foot and her being completely unprepared for it, fell off the spawner. Thankfully Ice was able to rebalance herself and flew back up to where Doc was standing. 

“Well that was just rude,” she huffed, “Why don’t you come over to my place. We can bake some cookies, or take a nap,” She grinned, “What do you say?” 

Doc had never so ready in his life to take up an offer like that. He was both physically and mentally exhausted, and not to mention he was very hungry. Cookies followed by a long nap sounded wonderful. “I’d be happy to Ice,” Her smile widened and her eyes glimmered with joy. 

“Great! Um, do you want to fly or walk?” She asked, the muscles in her shoulders flexing as she stretched her wings to their fullest extent, nearly hitting him in the face as she did so. 

Doc shrugged on his elytra and took out some rockets. “Race you to your house,” He jumped off the spawner and ignited several of the explosives. As he sped away he could hear Ice’s shout from behind him. A few seconds passed and then suddenly, a blur of white streaked past him. The ursa’s whoop of laughter reached his ears, as she easily overtook him. Try as he might, no matter how many rockets he spammed Doc couldn’t catch up with Ice. The fact that she didn’t rely on rockets coupled with her lightweight form and skinny stature made her much much faster than Doc. 

In no time at all they’d reached the tundra where Ice lived. Doc could tell they were there a few minutes before since the air had gotten significantly colder. When he came to a stop on the snowy ground, Ice was already waiting for him. She was panting and her face was flushed, whether it was from the cold air or the exercise Doc couldn’t tell. She had a big smile on her face, and it was so contagious that he smiled right back at her.

“That was awesome!” Ice pumped her fist into the sky. “I raced against someone like that, since, since…” She trailed off her eyes going glassy for a couple of seconds, “Well I can’t really remember, but I had a lot of fun anyways.” 

“Oh that’s right, have any memories come back to you?” 

She shook her head, “None, everytime I try to remember I just get a headache.” 

Deciding to quickly change the subject Doc spoke, “so how about those cookies!” Ice nodded and began to stride towards her house. Doc was impressed, the a-frame was a good build especially for a starter base. “What’s your plan for a main base?” He asked as they reached the front door. 

“I was thinking about expanding underground. Like maybe hollowing out a big cavern and decorating it with crystals.” As she pulled the door open a pair of dogs raced out and nearly tackled the female to the ground. She staggered a bit before they directed their attention on him. He crouched down and pet both of them, who were very happy at all the attention. Ice whistled and both of them scampered back inside. “Sorry,” Ice said with an apologetic smile. 

Doc laughed, “while I am more of a cat person, they are both very sweet.” she nodded and led him to the kitchen. “So what kind of cookie did you want to make.” 

Ice looked up from the counter, “Well,” she said, “We don’t necessarily have to make cookies, we could make brownies or cupcakes.” 

“We should make cookies, they’re easier, plus we can make a lot of them without making too much of a mess.”  _ Plus extra means I don’t have to make my own food for a while.  _ He thought. 

Ice nodded, “How about we make double chocolate chip, Scar gave me some cocoa beans a few days ago.” From some of the cupboards she pulled a few containers. They were labeled with simple baking ingredients like flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. A small glass jar was filled to the brim with small chocolate chunks. The pair got to work, with Ice measuring the ingredients out and Doc mixing them together. 

About twenty minutes passed and the first tray was resting inside the oven. The smell of melting chocolate was starting to waft around the small house. While they were waiting Doc began to wash the dishes, Ice helped by drying and setting them in their designated spots. 

It was peaceful, and Doc was reminded of the time that the NHO had tried to bake brownies. Key word being  **_tried_ ** . It had started off okay, but had turned rather chaotic when Etho had thrown flour onto Beef’s beard. The ninja and the butcher had started to playfully fight and Doc and Bdubs had joined in soon after. In the end the brownies had been charred slightly and the group was covered from head to toe in assorted ingredients. It had been fun and they’d laughed about it for days afterward. 

“I think these are just about done.” Doc wasn’t really sure how Ice knew that the cookies were done. She hadn’t set a timer, but when she took the pan out, the baked treats looked wonderful. The hunks of chocolate were melted and gooey, and they smelt delicious. Ice popped the next tray into the oven and set the finished pan on a rack to cool. 

“I can smell when the cookies are done.” Ice said pointing to her nose. 

“What?” Doc was caught a little off guard by the statement. 

“My nose,” She repeated, “it’s way more sensitive so I can smell when the cookies and really any baked goods are done.”

**_That made sense_ ** Doc thought. About thirty minutes passed and the kitchen was spotless, along with four sheets of chocolatey gooey cookies laid out on them. Soon enough they were sprawled out on the plush carpet of Ice’s living room. Sitting on the coffee table was a plate of cookies and two glasses which had held milk. The creeper hybrid was regaling the many adventures of the NHO, and many of the other world’s the hermits had inhabited. Eventually both of them drifted off to sleep, with Ice’s pets laying next to them.

When Doc woke up he found Ice curled up with her wings wrapped around her like a blanket. She had a very peaceful smile stretched across her face. A lump of white fur poking it’s head up revealing clear blue eyes. He slowly shook her shoulder and only got a grunt in return. 

“Ice,” Doc said, “time to wake up.” 

“No,” she groaned, “five more minutes Far.” Doc paused.  **_Who’s Far?_ ** He wondered. He shook her harder and she rolled over, and slowly opened her eyes. They were hazy with sleep but soon cleared. 

“Afternoon Ice” It was indeed afternoon, the pair having napped for quite some time. “I know you just woke up, but you were muttering in your sleep.”

She blinked curiously, “What was I saying?” 

“You told me ‘five more minutes Far’. Don’t know if you noticed but my name ain’t Far.”

Ice’s brow furrowed and she looked like she was concentrating. She groaned and clutched at her head. “Ugh can’t remember anyone named Far, but at least it’s progress.” She sighed and stood up stretching as she did. “No point in dwelling on things I can’t remember, we should probably package those cookies up, assuming Sleet and Blizzard didn’t eat them while we were sleeping. 

Luckily all the cookies were still sitting on the counter right where they were left. Silently they divided them evenly between themselves and Doc said his goodbye’s. He gave the hybrid a hug which she eagerly leaned into. It was odd how touch starved she seemed, but who was he to judge. Doc ignited his rockets and soared back to his base, fully prepared to not sleep for the three days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comment on your guy's favorite types of cookies. Mine are sugar molasses spice. 
> 
> Also constructive criticism and kudos are appreciated.


	8. Unwanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fir and Oscar go to the overworld. Oscar reflects on his past. Scar and Cub are there too. A N G S T.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo double upload. Welcome to this emotional rollercoaster. Have fun. Also I know I say this every chapter, but if any hermits say that they are uncomfortable with this type of thing I will delete my work. Oh and by the way I didn't mistype Fir in the last chapter. (Also I forgot that Keralis and Bdubs weren't actually part of season 6 until like way later so they get a vacation until the plot needs them. AKA the author is an idiot.)

Unwanted

Oscar wasn’t lonely, at least that’s what he tried to tell himself. It was less noticeable before he got a new ally, friend sounded too personal. Fir was interesting to say the least. The female wasn’t angry a lot of the time, but rather annoyed, Oscar honestly couldn’t tell. She was so starkly different from EX both in appearance and personality. For one thing EX was pale all over, from his skin to his hair, he was pasty. Fir on the other hand was pitch black with only a few splotches of dark gray to break up her form, she was essentially a living shadow. 

Personality wise they couldn’t be more different either. EX was a bit of a goof, sure he was able to create mass destruction, but after the pair met Worm Man in the last world they’d both softened. Instead of causing fire’s and griefing bases, the duo had helped Worm Man with his hero work, and had pulled a few rather harmless pranks on people. 

Fir was different. If anything she seemed sad most of the time. Her bright yellow eyes were fragmented like shattered glass. They had a certain hardness to them, like she’d seen things that had scarred her. It wasn’t like she couldn’t be happy, in fact it was quite the opposite. Her eyes had practically glowed when Oscar had shown her around his little section of the nether. She showed genuine compassion after he’d told her about EX disappearing. 

Now they were in the overworld, in the place where the portal had allowed him to leave the fifth world. It was located on a grassy hilltop which overlooked the ocean. Almost immediately after they’d gotten there Fir had almost instantly on edge. 

“What’s wrong.” Oscar asked, concerned. “We can go back,” he gestured to the glowing portal behind them. 

She shook her head. “I’m fine, just,” she paused “It’s nothing.” Oscar wasn’t really all that convinced but he decided to drop the topic. The main problem with living in the nether was a lack of available food. You could eat nether wart, but it was tough and didn’t taste all that good. Oscar’s plan was to steal some wheat, kill a few animals and head back. It was simple, but nothing was ever easy for him was it. 

They were in the shopping district. There weren’t many shops, but there was a large number of cows. Just as they’d collected a good amount of raw meat, a pair of voices Oscar heard a pair of very familiar voices. 

“Hide!” He shoved Fir into a hole in the ground and quickly covered with packed dirt. He could hear her muffled complaints. He looked for a place to hide himself, but a voice made him freeze. 

“Oh, Badtimes.” He slowly turned to see Scar and Cub. It was odd looking at Scar considering it was his own face he was staring at, or the other way around, so he focused on Cub. 

“My name is Oscar, not Bad.” He snarled, and reached for his rapier. Cub drew his sword with one hand and put the other in front of Scar. 

“Wait” Scar sounded nervous and to most people he might have looked calm but his tail lashed from side to side and his ears twitched. He pushed Cub’s hand aside and stepped in between the two. “We don’t have to fight.” He took a deep breath, “Look, Oscar, I know that we’ve never gotten along, but that’s no reason why we can’t be friends.” 

Oscar fixed him with a glare, “We,” He growled, “Will. Never. Be. Friends. The only reason I even exist is because of that stupid deal you two made with the vex. If it weren’t for that I would still be living with rest of the alters.” Oscar spat. 

Cub sheathed his blade, and gave Oscar a look that was a mixture of sympathy and regret. “Look, when we made that deal, we had no idea that the vex would pull you out of your own dimension.” Scar nodded in agreement. 

Oscar huffed. “Either way it doesn’t change the fact that I’m here against my will. Now will the two of you just leave me the fuck alone!” 

Scar looked hurt, “Okay, let’s go Cub.” The other man began to protest, but was dragged away by his partner. The two walked off towards the direction of the ocean. 

“So, what was that about?” A voice said from behind him. 

Oscar jumped and whirled around to see Fir standing with her arms cross. She looked annoyed and Oscar couldn’t blame her, but she also looked worried. “It’s nothing, I just don’t really like those two.” He kicked at the ground. 

“Yeah, I could tell.” She put a hand on his shoulder, “Wanna talk about it.” 

Oscar shook his head, “Let’s just go back to the nether.”

“Sore subject.” She asked. Oscar nodded. “Alright I won’t pry.” With that she walked back towards the direction of the portal.

“Wait, you’re not at all curious. You just drop it just like that?” He spluttered. 

Fir turned, “Well yeah I’m curious, but you respect my privacy so I’m respecting yours.”

“Thanks,” Oscar smiled, “That means a lot to mean.” 

Fir rolled her eyes, “Don’t mention it.” Then her eyes widened at something behind him. “Let’s go,” She grabbed his arm and began to drag him towards the portal. 

“What the- Fir let go!” She only yanked him harder. He pulled out of her grip. “What’s wrong.” He turned and saw a female, but it wasn’t False, Cleo, or Stress. Oddly she looked like a palette swap of Fir, but shorter. By the time he turned back around his companion had already disappeared. The expression of anger, fear, and sadness reflected in her eyes had caught him off guard. 

He found her looking over the lava lake. Her wings wrapped around her creating a barrier between her and the rest of the world. At the sound of his footsteps she looked up. Oscar stood awkwardly next to her. Fir sighed and pulled him down. He opened his arms for a hug and after a moment of hesitation she accepted. 

“I hate her.” Fir muttered. 

“That girl?” Oscar asked.

Fir nodded, “She doesn’t even know I exist, but I still despise her with every fiber of my being.” 

“I know the feeling.” Oscar thought back to when the vex first pulled him into the hermit’s dimension. He’d been scared and alone and confused. Cub and Scar wanted nothing to do with him, and the rest of the hermits thought he was nothing but trouble. EX had been the only one to ever give him a chance. It was odd, because right now it seemed like it was his turn to give Fir a person to lean and depend on. They stayed like that for a while, just hugging, sharing each other’s space, and in peaceful silence. 

“We should probably head back to your place.” Fir said, her voice barely above a whisper. Oscar nodded and together they headed back to their little hole in the wall. When they got there, Fir layed down on the couch. Oscar headed to his own room. He stared up at the ceiling until he fell asleep. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ice was looking for a shop that sold glass, unfortunately there wasn’t one. As she scanned the area she caught a glimpse of two people. One looked oddly like Scar, and the other was a female who looked like a solid shadow. Their eyes met, and the female dragged the other way by the arm. When the male stopped and turned to see Ice the female ran back into a glowing nether portal. Then the male also turned and headed into the glowing swirls. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing hurt/comfort. Also I'm gonna say that I put an important plot point, maybe you guys can find it. Kudos, and constructive criticism is welcome.


	9. Tag Your It!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tag game has begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long. Took me a while to write this since I've been on writer's block for a while. I actually sat down at least 5 times to write this, but gave up halfway through. I actually already have the next chapter planned out, but I don't know how long it will take me to write it. Oh and I'm going to be starting a new series that basically gives a bit more of an in depth backstory for certain characters. The first chapter of Grian's backstory will be up shortly. I will also mention that that story will be more graphic than this one has been. Most of the backstories are angsty. You have been warned. As always if any of the hermits state that they are uncomfy with this type of thing I will delete my work. 
> 
> Lots of Love,  
> Ice

Ice soared over the shopping district, landing close to iTrade. She’d already bought a season pass to the trading hall from its owner, Impulse. She had to admit that the pass had it’s uses, considering how she’d already got quite a few mending books which was useful since digging out a giant cavern put a lot of strain on her pickaxe. 

Something hit her on the back of the head. 

“Ouch!” She yelped and turned around to see Grian standing behind her with an impish grin on his face. 

“Tag!” The avian clapped his hands and handed her a book. 

“Tag?” She asked, as she set her sword down to read the book. 

Apparently Grian had started a game of tag. One player would hold a name tag and then would have to sneakily pass it off to another hermit without getting caught. 

“Sounds fun, guess I’m it?” Grian nodded

“Yup,” He popped the p, “You just need to give the tag and the book to another hermit without getting noticed.” 

Ice smiled as Grian flew off, the game sounded like fun, and she couldn’t wait to play. As her eyes skimmed across the pages, she noted that the game’s rules were simple, and that basically nothing was off limits. Ice was going to have a lot of fun. 

  
  


Her target, she’d decided would be X. The admin wouldn’t be too difficult to tag considering he was usually engrossed in his work. She located said hermit at his sea temple base, as he was killing the guardians. The creatures made clicking and screeches as Xisuma’s blade cut through their hard outer shells. Ice slowly crept up to him, the tag in hand, and then she tossed it through the air. It hit the admin on the back of the head. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet, but it resulted in a dull thud. As X was turning Ice dropped the book and quickly took off towards her base laughing at the confused shout Xisuma gave her. Her mission was a success. 

  
  
  
  
  


Xisuma rubbed the back of his head. The item that Ice had through at his head was a name tag, and then she’d dropped a book next to it. Needless to say the admin was very confused. Then it hit him like a rock. Tag. It was a game that Grian had started. He’d seen a few of the other hermits playing it, and had avoided a few attempts himself. He was surprised Ice had been to the one to tag him. The small female was difficult to hit, and she had a lot of mobility given her wings. He hadn’t even heard her sneaking up behind him.

Xisuma wasn’t sure who was following him, but he could hear their footsteps. It was mildly freaky, but he could make guesses. Grian perhaps, or maybe Zedaph. It wasn’t until X rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of a set of red armour did he know who was trailing him. He had a feeling that tag was going to get a lot more interesting. 

His plan was simple, set up a button that would dispense the book and the tag, along with a shulker’s head. The next day he set his plan into motion. And it worked perfectly. 

A shriek of confusion told him that the button worked. He burst out laughing at the male who was struggling to remove the shulker’s head from his helmet. 

“FUCK YOU X!” The other voidwalker growled as he stalked over to Xisuma. “IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE! TELLING ME I COULD BLOW UP THE ENTIRE WORLD BUT PRANKING ME. DO YOU WANT ME TO STRIKE YOU WITH LIGHTNING!” 

The admin snickered at his brother, “well maybe you should actually think about why I would let you blow up my world.” EX looked positively livid and X could see small crackles of electricity dance around his body. A bolt of lighting struck the ground a few feet away from the pair, setting the grass on fire. 

“I will end you Xisumavoid. That is a promise.” 

“Watch it!” X glared at the other male, “I don’t need you destroying my stuff, besides if you actually read the book I gave you, you might understand why I pranked you in the first place.” 

EX grumbled but picked up the book and leafed through it, “A dumb game, seriously.” 

“Look if you play it, I won’t ban you for nearly killing me; deal.” 

His brother gave him a sour look, “Fine, I’ll play your dumb game. Where’s the nearest nether portal.” 

“Why do you want to know?” 

“I want to live amongst fire and brimstone. Plus I'm like ninety percent sure Oscar is there.” 

  
  


Xisuma pointed in the direction of his nether portal, and EX walked towards it. “It was nice seeing you again.” The only response he got was a middle finger. Then his brother disappeared into the swirling vortex of purple particles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there will be a few things that are set up in this chapter and the next. Firstly EX doesn't know that Fir exists. Voidy boi was in a different dimension for like the last half of season 5. Only reason he showed up was to see if he could cause chaos in the new world. Secondly none of the hermits (with the exception of Ice) have seen Fir. Scar and Cub didn't see her in the last chapter since Oscar shoved her into a hole.


	10. New Allies and Old Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EX find Oscar. He also meets Fir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry it's been so long since I've updated this fic. I've had a lot of drama going on and to be entirely honest I didn't feel motivated at all to work on this fic. However I feel a lot better and my burnout's been completely gone. I did get a little lazy at the end, but I did my best. I hope you all enjoy.

The nether was still a fiery hellscape and to most people that would be bad. But EX honestly couldn’t care less. He was immune to fire, and even if he wasn’t he could just take the form of a nether monster to not burn. It didn’t take him long to run into another hermit, which was something he was trying to avoid. After he’d destroyed their third world the hermits hadn’t been all that friendly towards him. It took X and Worm Man to prove that he could in fact be good. 

Unfortunately the male he ran into was someone he’d hoped to never see. Zedaph. The sheep hybrid looked stunned and a little guilty. 

“Uh hey EX, how’s it going?” EX growled and Zedaph shrank back a bit. The void walker walked right past him intent on ignoring the other male. “I’m sorry Worm Man isn’t here, but Scar and Cub ran into Oscar a couple of days ago if that makes you feel better.” 

EX turned back around and grabbed the collar of Zedaph’s shirt. “I want nothing to do with you or the rest of the hermits. The only reason I’m back is because I want to make sure Oscar is safe.” Zed’s purple eyes were filled with terror and his sheep ears trembled in fear. Small crackles of electricity danced around EX’s head. The calm before the storm. 

EX let go of Zedaph’s shirt and the man collapsed on the ground. He left the hybrid like that, in shock and fear, as he returned to his search. He missed being around a person who truly understood him. 

It took a bit of searching along with asking a few pigmen but eventually EX was able to locate the general area of Oscar’s current residence. It wasn’t really all that difficult since the cat hybrid had a habit of terraforming the land to how it suited him. For his current base that meant cobblestone. A lot of it. Considering it was one of the only blocks that wouldn’t be blown up by ghast fire, it was a suitable choice for a building material. Somehow Oscar had managed to blend a mixture of netherrack, nether brick stairs, and cobblestone walls, slabs, and blocks to create a railing, walkway, and entrance to the small cave that he lived in. 

EX approached the door. He hesitated at knocking. Why was he so nervous? It wasn’t like he had completely left Oscar alone without any explanation. Except he had. EX had just left the hermitcraft world without telling anyone. He went back to the destroyed remnants of the third world and just thought. About his mistakes and how badly he’d fucked up. He chose to knock. Better to face the consequences of his actions than just run away again. 

He was not expecting a woman to answer the door. He’d only briefly met False in their third world. And Stress and Cleo in the fifth. And X had not mentioned another female living with Oscar. Needless to say he was confused. Thankfully his helmet did a great job of hiding his face. 

“Do you need something?” Her voice was a raspy like she’d swallowed a sheet of sandpaper. 

“Uh, I’m looking for Oscar.” She gave him a look.

“I mean he’s out collecting quartz right now, but you could wait inside. If you end up being a threat I’ll just stab you.” 

“You’re really blunt, you know.” EX said as he followed her into the hole in the wall. 

“I’m aware.” She shrugged. “Oscar tells me at every possible moment. He’s annoying like that.” 

“Oscar isn’t annoying, he’s an amazing terraformer and he really cares about people.” 

Her eyes lit up with understanding and she turned to smirk at him, “Oh I know who you are.” Her voice was like poison coated in sugar, “You’re the asshole who straight up ghosted Oscar. He had a bit of a break down on me when I told him I wasn’t going anywhere.” 

EX wanted to be mad at her. He really did, but he couldn’t. Because she was right. 

“I’m Fir by the way. Oscar didn’t tell me your name while he was moping. Only that you were the admin’s clone.” She sat down on the small couch where she’d been polishing her sword. A backsword made out of diamond. Sitting on the table next to the sofa was an iron dagger with a large skull shaped gem set into the hilt. It glinted in the red light of the nether.

“EX, that’s my name.” He sat down next to her.

“I’m gonna call you E,” 

“My name is EX,” EX protested

“Well I like E better, so that’s what I’m going to call you.” She slid her sword back into its sheath. 

“Just go with EX it's better not to argue with her.” EX looked up to see Oscar standing in the doorway. He was holding a shulker box in his hands. His picaxe was hanging on his hip and an axe was hanging from his back. His usual rapier was in its sheath on his waist. His tail flicked about has he set the shulker down on the ground. “It’s nice to see you again.” 

EX stood up. He felt extremely awkward. “Uh you too.”

“Oh for fucks sake just hug and make up or whatever.” Fir sounded very annoyed. 

Oscar laughed and held his arms out, “like I said it’s better not to argue with her.” 

EX grinned and returned the hug. It was nice to feel human contact after almost six months. “I missed you and your short hugs.” He muttered into Oscar’s hair.

“I have a sword on me and I am not afraid to stab you in the gut.” EX quickly backed away as Fir laughed in the background. 

“So uh what’s with the woman.” EX asked.

“I’m a clone, I ended up in the nether, and then I kicked the catboy's ass in a fight. That’s all you need to know.” Oscar looked mildly offended at being called a catboy even if it was true. 

The void walker snorted, “Oh come on that can’t be all.”

“It is so don’t push your luck” She glared at him, hard yellow eyes boring into his red ones. 

Of course EX just had to push his luck, “Please the two of us both know how we were created. Why don’t you tell us.” 

“That’s none of your goddamn business.” She bared her fangs hands already clenched around the hilt of her sword.

“Guys maybe we leave each other alone.” Oscar tried to break up the fight. Not like either of them listened. 

“No, I bet she hasn’t told you anything about who she is or where she came from.” EX jabed a finger in Fir’s direction. Then he felt his body seize up. His muscles went taut and he jerked forward against his will. His movements were jerky and it felt like he was attached to marionette strings. As his knees forced his body to sink to Fir’s eye level EX was met by her eyes, but they were now glowing a bright yellow and seemed like they were emitting a halo of light. 

“I don’t have to tell either of you bullshit. I’m not the one who abandoned my friend. And do want to know why that is. It’s because I don’t have friends. I’m completely alone.” She growled, “And if I truly wanted to, I would’ve forced you to put that sword of yours through your own chest. And I will laugh as you choke on your own blood.” She had a rather manial grin on her face.

Then her eyes stopped glowing and EX felt his muscles relax. He collapsed on the floor as Fir stormed out of the room. From the open doorway he could see her leap off the walkway and soar over the lava lake. 

“You fucked up man.” Oscar said. 

“You didn’t tell me your new roommate could fucking possess people.” EX choked out. It still felt like his body wasn’t in control of itself. 

“You shouldn’t have pushed her like that. Fir might be a bit of an asshole but she respected my privacy enough to not pry about my past with Cub and Scar.” Oscar stared out the open door, “I’m going after her, and if you have any sense you’ll come with me to apologize. 

EX took a few minutes to collect himself and process what had happened. Then he headed after Oscar. It was a lot easier for him to locate Fir since he could just float over the lava lake. He found her overlooking a fortress; wings wrapped around bent knees. She didn’t even look up as he hovered in front of her. 

“Come back for round two, cause I can make good on that threat I made earlier.” Her eyes began to glow yellow again.

“That’s not necessary. I came to apologize. Mostly because I don’t want Oscar mad at me. He seems to really like you.” The glow in her eyes faded and she uncurled her wings. “I’m sorry. Your past is your own and I of all fucked up people should know not to pry.”

She gave a dry laugh, “Well as half-assed as that was I accept your apology” Fir stood up and held out a hand. “Well E what do you say. Allies so we don’t drive poor Oscar up a wall.” 

EX shook her hand, “Agreed I’ll try my hardest not to electrocute you.”

She looked impressed, “Lightning huh that might be useful.” 

“You already made up! Come on I had this whole speech planned out.” Oscar complained as he made his way down to the small ledge. “Seriously what’d you say to each other.” 

Fir laughed, “we made a deal to not annoy you to death.” 

“Gee thanks,” Oscar grumbled. “Could one of you carry me back, my feet hurt.” 

Fir grinned, “Since we’re all sharing powers how bout I show you one of mine. I need you to stand back though.” Once both EX and Oscar had gotten about ten feet away from where she had been standing, she knelt. Her knuckles pressed flat against the ground. 

And then suddenly her body turned completely to shadow. The dark form grew until it was at least 12 feet tall. Then it once again turned into a solid form and EX and Oscar were staring at a giant bear. At least it looked like a black bear. But it’s upper jaw was a bird’s beak and it’s two front paws were talons instead. It had massive black raven’s wings with an absurd wingspan as they extended to full length. It let out a roar, and it’s bright yellow eyes bored into them. 

“Holly shit, is that Fir?” Oscar aksed. The creature gave a brief jerk of its head as if saying yes. 

It knelt and EX very hesitantly asked, “We can ride on your back?” Fir once again nodded. Oscar and EX climbed on her back and settled in front of the spots where her massive wings connected to her back. 

Once she was sure they were secure, Fir took a running leap and jumped straight over the lava lake. Oscar let out a scream as her massive wings caught the updraft and they were propelled across the vast lake of bubbling molten rock. She weaved through the pillars of the fortress and around massive netherrack stalactites. EX was once again grateful for his helmet since the hot hair was being blasted full force into his face. 

When they finally landed on the pathway outside the base EX and Oscar slid off her back. The cat hybrid let out a whoop. Then the massive form turned back into shadow and shrunk down into a vague humanoid form. When the shadow solidified into Fir Oscar gave her a high five.

“FIR THAT WAS AWESOME!!” His tail was flicking every direction out of sheer excitement. 

“Yeah that was a fun way to travel.” EX agreed.

“Glad you liked it, but don’t expect free rides whenever you feel like it.” Fir looked smug. 

The trio headed inside and Oscar began to make them all a meal. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hoped you really enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed writing Fir's character and how she interacted with EX. Also she will be calling him E for the remainder of this series, because I said so.


	11. Not A Chapter (Authors Note) PLEASE READ!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I go over the reason why I've been kinda inactive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO PLEASE READ THE CHAPTER. IT GOES OVER IMPORTANT REASONS WHY I'VE BEEN INACTIVE. IT WILL ALSO INCLUDE MY UPDATE SCHEDULE. IF YOU DON'T CARE WHY I'VE BEEN INACTIVE, THEN DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER. HOWEVER IF YOU DO, PLEASE READ.

Hi, I know I've been inactive, and I have a reason. Unless some of you managed to find my tumblr, which I highly doubt since I haven't linked it nor have I mentioned it in any of my notes. I am autistic, and am still in school. Due to the pandemic my school like many other has been doing online.

However this means that some of my classes are compressed, most importantly my math class. This means that I receive much more homework.

Now me being autistic factors into this. I have a very difficult time focusing on thing that don't pertain to my special interests, and being ADHD doesn't help either. At the beginning of December I began to have many of my assignments pile up on me. It caused me a lot of stress, and my shitty sleep schedule didn't help either. I did attempt to try the MCYT Advent Calendar, but the pressure of upload one every day became to much. It didn't really bother me too much since I still had my main fic to work on. I did manage to upload one chapter on the 11th of December, but I wasn't all that good and I didn't really like it.

Now around the middle of December is when everything went very very wrong. It was a Monday, which meant that I was extra sleep deprived and would receive a lot of homework. This coupled with the fact that I was stressed and had multiple other assignments missing for a single class caused me to disassociate. I couldn't focus and I'm pretty sure I had a panic attack and a mental breakdown in my room. My mom found me and I managed to calm down. The next day I had another panic attack, due to the fact that one of my classes puts me under extreme stress and sensory overload. 

I did meet with my psychiatrist and I did start taking a medication to help with focusing issues. However the medication I took caused me to drop when it wore off. This meant that around 5pm give or take, I would experience extreme mood swings and become depressed, anxious, and just generally a wreck. I don't remember the specific night, but I came downstairs after working on homework, and ate a salad with my family. Right before I sat down, I dropped, and became much more silent, and didn't really interact with my family. This wasn't too weird since I don't normally talk all that much. But I wasn't really eating, and I felt like sobbing. My mom notice and took me up to my room. She asked if I was okay, and when I answered yes, she went back downstairs to frost cookies with my sister. 

I don't know how much time passed, but when I went downstairs to refill my water bottle, I snapped. I don't really remember what my parents said that made me break, but in short, I had another breakdown, yelled at my mother that I didn't want to exist anymore, and went back up to my room to hide inside my closet. 

My mom found me and we had a very long talk. During the talk I talked about the characters I create, and how they are separate people, and a part of me. I am their creator, and although I created them, they have completely different lives. I often slip into one of my characters and image situations and scenarios in my head. I am able to have complete conversations with other characters inside my head, and never once did I have to actually be me. 

Now at the time we didn't now that the medication was causing me to drop, and instead we lowered the dose I was taking. Now my original plan for Winter break was to work on my fic since I would have a lot of time and I wouldn't need to worry about anything else. However I spent the majority of the break working on the missing assignments. I had almost no time for myself, and even when I did I felt absolutely no motivation to work on my fic. 

It sucks since I still want to finish my story, and Ice and Fir have so much growth to go through. I do not know how my update schedule will go, but I can promise you that I am trying. 

I am now on a different medication that doesn't cause me to drop, and since I will be going back to school for two days out of the week I might have more free time. Also I should mention in case any of my readers are worried. My parent care very much about me, and support both me and my goals and interests. Do not worry. Also I should mention that I am working on the second part of Grian's backstory and the lastest chapter of the main fic. The reason I wrote this was to tell my viewers that I have not abandoned this work, and will continue to keep writing. 

I hope all of you have a lovely day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI, THANK FOR READING. I APPRETIATE.


	12. House of Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst and hurts. Oh and comfort and some plot. Just for you guys since it's been over a month since I've properly update. PLZ READ THE NOTES THEY ARE IMPORTANT!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I'M BACK! So I know it's been well over a month since I've properly updated this work, but due to the fact that I'm no longer in the class that was causing me ungodly amounts of stress, I feel way better. I'm finally back in my groove. To everyone who's been waiting so patiently and to everyone who sent me such nice comments. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will leave some notes at the end of the chapter explaining some things that happen in this chapter. So go check those out. Kudos and Comment are lovely since I enjoy getting feedback. 
> 
> Yada yada. If any of the hermits say they don't want this kind of thing, I will take it down.

You wake up in a garden. Which is strange because you don’t remember falling asleep. But it’s peaceful. Calm. Flowers cover the ground, and butterflies flit through the air. Towering trees stretch towards the sky and their leaves sway in the soft breeze. A small pond reflects the bright blue sky, and a small bench faces the waterfront. A person is sitting there. You recognize them. I mean it is you after all. You are staring at the water, wings resting peacefully behind you. 

You seem happy until you look at yourself. You’re crying. Tears are rolling down your face and small shudders rack your body. 

“What’s wrong? Why are you-I mean- Why am I crying?” You ask, sitting next to yourself on the small wooden bench. The pond has no ripples; it’s completely still. 

“She’s gone.” Your voice is raspy, and it’s faint like you aren’t even in your own body anymore. 

Who’s gone?” You don’t remember anyone missing. All of the other hermits are still there. 

The other you turns with a jolt. Her eyes are filled with pain and anger and sadness. You wish you knew how to help her. “What do you mean, “who’s gone?” Far’s gone and she’s NEVER coming back.” Your fangs are showing now. Bared in an act of defence and anger. 

_ Far,  _ you remember that name. It was the name that Doc said you murmured in your sleep. You remember the face of the woman who appeared in your mind when you sang. Your nightmare, you remember a woman, the same woman. Was she Far? 

“And it’s all our fault.” You look at yourself, eyes filled with anguish, “She’s gone, and it’s our fault. We never should've left that day. I never should’ve traveled.” 

You wish you knew how to help, but you don’t. Nothing you’re saying makes sense. It’s like taking a test without knowing what to study for. You’re grasping at straws. You hear a splash, and look down. The pond, once completely still, is now covered in ripples. Tears fall into the water, disturbing the peacefulness of the pool. 

The other you’s tears are falling faster now. Rolling off her cheeks into the water. The sun isn’t shining as brightly and the wind is just a little more aggressive. Not by too much, but enough to be noticeable. 

You dig your claws into your hands a bit too hard and the smell of iron fills your nostrils. You look at the blood dripping from your palms. But instead of it being red, it’s black. And the blood is turning to ash as soon as it hits the ground. Each drop staining the earth a ghostly tint. It doesn’t make any sense. None of it. Your blood shouldn’t be black. It shouldn’t be ash. Your memories should still be here. In your head. This version of you still remembers, so why don’t you? What happened? 

Your hair whips your face. What? The wind is now a roar. Filling your ears with a shriek. It’s nothing like what it was when you first got there. The sun is no longer beaming down. Instead it’s hidden behind dark stormy clouds. You look at the pond. From the very center a sheet of ice is spreading outward. 

“Get out.” Your voice is calm. You turn. You are glaring at the pond. At the ice creeping forward. “Get out of my head.” You don’t understand. 

“What?”

“Get out.” You repeat. The other you grabs your shoulder. Her grip is cold, like metal or winter’s first frost. She shoves you. You aren’t expecting it, and you tumble backwards into the water. You flounder, feathers become soaked and heavy. You can’t seem to make it back up to the surface, and you sink further. Your lungs fill with liquid ice, and you choke; bubbles rise to the rapidly fading surface. Your vision blurs as you lose consciousness. Everything is fuzzy and dark. The cold fades, and you feel a pair of warm hands on your wrists. You focus on that feeling. It grounds you. You struggle to the surface of that dark place.

Then everything is too bright. Your eyes can’t adjust fast enough, and it hurts to keep them open. A soft voice encourages you, to keep your eyes open, to wake up. You decide to listen. A pair of heads come into view. Both heads house worried eyes. One pair brown, the other blue. 

“Oh she’s awake, it worked!” The blue eyes stop looking so worried, and a small flare of happiness sparks to life. “You’re amazing Stressy!” 

Oh that’s who the brown eyes belong to. Stress. Why is she at your base? You don’t remember inviting her over. Or asking her for supplies. You’d already stocked up at her ice shop. Her body is warm and even though you aren’t in the cold water anymore, you lean towards the heat. You can feel your wings trembling. Like your feathers are trying to get the water out of them. 

“Ice, can you hear me.” 

Stress still has that worried look in her eyes. You feel bad, because surely she’s got better things to do. You answer her question with a shaky nod. Your tongue feels like lead, resting heavy in your mouth. You don’t feel up to speak.

“Oh that’s good, Wels and I were so worried.” 

Wels, oh that’s who the blue eyes belong to. You vaguely remember sending him a message, asking for some glass. Why did you need glass again? Your head is still fuzzy. You try to sit up, but Stress pushes you back down.

“I wouldn’t try Icicle, you were AFKing pretty deep. You’re lucky Wels found you before you slipped any deeper.” Stress strokes your hair. It feels nice her fingers lightly scratching your scalp and behind your ears. “We were worried. You didn’t respond to anything we said, and when Wels tried shaking you out of it, you almost broke his wrist.” 

Your eyes widen and you turn towards Wels. The armour on his right hand is dented and has scratch marks. You try to grab at his hand, but you don’t have the strength. Luckily Wels grabs it before it can hit the ground again. You trace out the word sorry on his palm.

He smiles at you, tail reaching up to wrap around your arm. “It’s okay Ice, you were pretty deep in your headspace.” You grin weakly back at him. 

Slowly Stress helps you sit up. She leans your body against the wall, and pulls a water bottle from her inventory. You drink the water, it feels good against your raw throat. It feels like you’ve been crying, and you recall that the you, the one you were talking to, was crying. You ask the question through your communicator.

Wels nods, “Yeah when I came to give you that glass, I found you here. You were just kind of standing in the middle of the room. I thought you were just organizing your inventory or something, but when I called out and you didn’t answer I got worried. Your back was turned to me so I couldn’t see your face, but when I got in front of you. Well you-you were crying. No sounds or anything, just tears. You looked like you’d seen a ghost. When I tried to shake you out of it.” He glanced down at his dented armour, “Well you know what happened. I didn’t know what to do, so I messaged Stress for help.” 

Stress spoke up, “When I got here, I froze the air around your head to try to snap you out of it. Normally your body would react to danger subconsciously, but since the danger wasn’t actually physically affecting you, your mind jolted back.” She was still stroking your hair, despite living in an iceberg Stress’s body was very warm. You missed being around someone warm. It had been so, so long since somebody made sure you felt safe. “We’re just happy you're okay, Icicle.” 

“Th-thank you,” Your voice is quiet, barely above a whisper, and it’s scratchy and sore. “I d-don’t think I’ve been s-safe for a v-very long time.” You blink back tears. 

Wels settles down next to you, his tail wraps itself around your wrist again. He gives you a hug, and despite him wearing armour, it’s warm. His great big bat’s wings curl around you and Stress. Your own wings fluff up on reflex before settling down. You feel safe, and warm, and you sniffle. You feel loved. Why didn’t you feel loved before? You realize something. Who Stress reminds you of. Far. She’s like Far. Someone you loved, like a mother or a sister. Someone you could call family. You recall what Stress told you when the two of you first met. “Welcome to our little family.” That’s what the hermits are. A family. They take care of one another. They love each other. 

The hug ends as Wels unwraps his wings from you and Stress. His tail still remains around your wrist. You slowly start to remember what happened before you blacked out. You had found a skeleton spawner while digging out the large hole for your main base. You’d started to make an xp grinder, and a farm for bones. You messaged Wels for a shulker full of glass in exchange for a shulker of tipped arrows. You remember standing in the area where the skeletons would spawn and then fall into lava, and then you slipped. You fell into your own mind, and you couldn’t get out. They saved you. Stress and Wels saved you. You wonder how long you would’ve been stuck inside your own head, until another one of the hermits noticed something was wrong. You’re lucky. 

“I-I was in my mind, a-and I saw m-myself. I was crying.” Your voice shakes as you try to tell them what happened before they pulled you out, “I was mourning someone, F-Far. Sh-She’s dead. I-I don’t know who she is, but I know she was important.” Your heart feels empty, like a chunk of it was ripped out. 

Stress pulls you even closer, her eyes liquid chocolate, and shining with sympathy. “Then what?” 

“I shove myself into the water. I start drowning. It-it’s cold. It’s so cold. Then I woke up, and I saw you guys.” You can feel the tears drip down your face. “I was always alone. I was so so cold.” Stress holds you closer. The floor is cold, but she’s warm. Wels is warm too. You don’t feel as cold as before. 

“We should get off the floor. Maybe you should sleep.” Wels says and you nod. They help you to your feet. You make it to your starter base. Sleet and Blizzard nuzzle you. You're happy. Popsicle looks at you, his blue eyes seem anxious. Stress makes tea as you and Wels settle on the couch. You curl up into his side. He wraps his wing back around you. You do the same. Feather and thick leathery skin contrast. Stress joins the two of you on the couch. She sits the other side of you. The green tea is delicious and it warms your entire body. The three of you sit in comfortable silence until Wels drifts off. Stress and you talk quietly. It’s nice, peaceful. Eventually Wels wakes up, and he and Stress leave. But they make sure you feel safe. You do, and while you aren’t completely happy, you’re content. 

Ice stood up. She was tired and sore. She wanted to take a bath. Chase away some of that remaining cold. She turned the water on and let steam fill the quartz lined bathroom. The heat was pleasant, and she relaxed until the water turned lukewarm. When she toweled off, she looked at the mirror. Then down at her hands. They had scars. So did her arms, and her chest, and a few on her legs. She didn’t like the scars. When she looked up she saw something in the foggy mirror. A person, with glowing yellow eyes. Like in her nightmare. Their body was made from pure shadow, and they had a malicious grin on their face. She could almost hear a whispery laughter. She wiped at the mirror, but the shadow still lingered in the background. Ice turned around, but there was no one there. Nothing, just the faint smell of water vapor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so some lore/plot explanation. So here's how I think AFKing working in the AU. When a hermit goes AFK at either a farm or a spawner, they slip into a bit of a trance. They aren't really in their bodies anymore and it takes something like pushing them, yelling at them, or doing something that actually affects their physical body to snap them out of it. Normally this will result in the AFKing hermit to somewhat fight back, something like a punch or hit, out of shock. However if a hermit has trauma, like Ice does, AFKing can be very dangerous since they are put into a state of permanate danger. Their mind and body is constantly activating the fight or flight response. So when Wels tried to snap Ice out of the AFK state she reacted with much more aggressiveness then any of the normal hermits. It's why Stress and Wels were so worried since none of the other hermits act like this while AFK. The reason it worked with Stress was due to two factors. First the method that Stress used wasn't causing Ice any physical harm, and secondly her mind was slightly out of the AFK state due to Wels' interference. 
> 
> Also I chose to write this in Second POV was because it was easier to make this chapter flow. I wanted the reader to feel like they were experiencing the chapter through Ice's eyes and body. Also just to clear things up a bit. The Ice that inside her head is her subconscious. This Ice retains all of the past trauma that the body has gone through. It's why she is much more sad and not as cheerful as the Ice that the readers know. 
> 
> Also do you guys actually think Fir was in Ice's bathroom. 
> 
> Also since I probably won't have schoolwork over the weekend I will start working on the next chapter. I've trying to write a brief structure for how I want the next chapters and the work in whole to go. It will probably stop at the end of season 6. That doesn't mean that the work will stop, I plan for it to go into season 7, and maybe season 8 depending on whether or not the hermits start a new season when the caves and cliffs update comes out. I also have a bunch of AU's that I want to do, some of them include
> 
> Most of the AU's include other members of the MCYT Community  
> -Mafia AU (The hermits are part of the mafia)  
> -Hybrid Revolution/Medieval AU (It's medieval and it's a hybrid revolution)  
> -Hermit Tommy AU (Look I'm a sucker for the Dream SMP, and I just want the children to be safe and happy. Also big sister Ice!)  
> -Hermit Kids (All of the Hermits have kids. It's just their kid's adventures) 
> 
> Leave a comment if you want any of these AU's to happen. I'm probably gonna write them anyways, but I still want feedback. Also before I forget. CallMeDJ just started a new work that is a continuation of their last work that included Fir and Ice!!! I was happy to read it and you guys should check it out. Also I cannot for the life of me get the image of Fir decking Twisted Iskall across the face for calling her edgy. That idea lives in my head rent free.
> 
> I love all my icepops. Goodbye!!! <3


	13. I Supposed to be in Control, But Am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fir is cold. EX is suspicious. Oscar is oblivious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is shorter, but the next will probably we longer. Also the civil war arc is starting soon!
> 
> Love you guys, thanks for the support. Kudos and comments are appreciated.

It’s dark. And cold. Very very cold. She can’t feel anything. She can’t seem to breath. Then she can, and she’s looking at someone. A person. They aren’t smiling. No they’re frowning. They seem disappointed. Mad almost. She stares at them, but they don’t seem to notice her. Not all that strange considering she’s standing in the shadows. Her eyes burn with energy. 

“No that’s not right. It didn’t work,” They sound disappointed. “Enders please why couldn’t this have worked.” They storm out leaving whatever they were looking at free for her to peer at. It’s a book, the knowledge surfacing in her hazy mind. She leans over to look at, and her fingers pass through the page. She is liquid, not solid. But the page that is currently open, well she didn’t really like what it was describing. Not at all. 

Fir stood over the lava lake. Even from this height she could hear the hiss it created whenever it bubbled up into the sulfur filled air. It wasn’t cold, that was for sure. Fir really didn’t like thinking about the cold. It made her feel angry, an emotion that wasn’t all that common to her. Contrary to what EX and Oscar probably thought, Fir felt empty most of the time. A sort of numb feeling that consumed her entire body, worming itself into the deepest parts of her head. The other emotion she often felt was sadness. It weighed down, like soul sand grabbing at your boots. Fir had never liked feeling tethered to the ground. Having wings made that feeling lessen. The ability to simply soar into the open air had become somewhat of a coping mechanism. 

Something bumped against her shoulder and out of reflex she attacked. The squeal of a pigman reached her ears and Fir realized her mistake. The surrounding bipeds were already approaching her. 

EX woke up. The screech of a dying pigman rang through the silent base. He looked over at the other bed. Oscar was also stirring, ears twitching at the sounds. He looked out into their main room. Fir wasn’t on the couch. The sounds of the pigmen had gotten louder. More and more of them dying. 

“EX?” A sleepy voice reached his ears, “What’s going on?” Oscar was standing in the doorway. He looked tired. 

“Someone angered a pigman.” He said gesturing to the empty couch. Oscar’s eyes lit up with worry and he grabbed his rapier. EX also grabbed his weapon, as well as Fir’s backsword which was sitting on the table. 

The pair headed out, and while the dying noises were still there, they had quieted down significantly. 

“There,” Oscar pointed to the ledge that overlooked the lava lake. EX could see Fir’s figure standing. They ran up to her, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Fir was surrounded by the remains of the pigmen. Skeletons with pieces of rotten flesh were piled on top of one another. Golden swords and nuggets were scattered across the ground. Oddly enough, Fir didn’t look remotely injured despite the fact that she didn’t have a weapon or any armour. “Are you okay,” Oscar asked. 

“Fine, just accidentally hit one after it startled me.” Her voice was hollow, and cold. Completely devoid of emotion. She looked hollow too, her eyes were unfocused like she wasn’t all there. EX found it creepy. Her stomach growled, and Oscar laughed.

“You hungry?”

“Yeah, I just needed to think, didn’t want to wake you guys up.” She caught EX’s eye, “Sorry.”

“It-It’s fine,” He answered, “Not your fault, besides we were going to have to get up sooner or later.” They walked back and settled at the table, Oscar excluded since he was making the food. The silence wasn’t comfortable, it oozed awkwardness. Fir looked deep in thought. EX was too. He had noticed that some odd wisps had been floating in the air. And a few black stains on the pigmen skeletons. Which was strange since pigmen skeletons bleached instead of corrupting like the wither skeletons. Corrupting. Fir looked pretty corrupted, her skin, feathers, and fur were black. Honestly the only splash of color were her bright yellow eyes. And even those didn’t seem all that natural, but he had red eyes so who was he to judge. She just didn’t sit right.

Fir claimed to be a copy just like him and Oscar, but she didn’t look like any of the other hermits. And while EX knew that Oscar was pulled from another dimension, which was filled with the other evil alters he wasn’t and he could bet that Fir wasn’t either. It really didn’t help that she practically refused to talk about her past. She was an enigma to be certain. And EX was going to solve this puzzle. Her abilities were interesting to say the least. She could shape shift somewhat. Her larger form was monstrous and EX could honestly only guess about her other powers. It was even more unsettling to think about her ability to control people. He hadn’t felt in control of his body; he was a puppet, and she the puppeteer. 

He was jostled out of his head by the clatter of a plate in front of him. The smell of roasted pork and toasted potatoes reached through his helmet. He took it off, letting his hair fluff up. Helmet head, his least favorite. He could already feel the heaviness of the nether air crowding his lungs. He silently thanked whichever god existed that Fir didn’t question him practically inhaling his food. He put his helmet back on. Fir and Oscar finished their meals. The silence that hung in the air was almost as suffocating as the air that his helmet filtered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I was thinking of starting an SCP AU including members of multiple SMP's including Hermitcraft, Dream SMP, as well as the server I'm part of. This AU would also include Ice, Fir, and my minesona Fierce. For some info, Ice is my hermitsona, and Fir is my helsona. Fierce is my main minesona. I'd would love feedback for the SCP AU.


	14. I Love You, But Now You're Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day of help turns south.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be short, not sure if the next one is going to be longer. I hope you guys are enjoying my stuff. I might have the SCP AU out soon, not sure. School is unpredictable. I hope your days are good.

Cleo straightened the posts. The hanging stand was almost finished. After all, what pirate town wasn’t complete with a place to hang criminals. Only one issue. Cleo was out of heads. Thankfully a quick message to the chat had secured a deal with Ice, who had acquired a stash of heads. 

“And this is the tavern.” Cleo gestured to the partially finished building, “It’s not quite done yet, but I should be able to get it done soon.” 

“Everything looks great!” Ice smiled, it was genuine and Cleo was very happy to see that the ursa looked much better after her talk with Stress and Wels. Word travels quick on the server, and Cleo had learned first hand about what had happened. Well she’d learned from a partially drunk Stress, who’d been brought over by False. As funny as a tipsy Stress was, it was morning concerning since she’d been crying into False’s shoulder. It wasn’t difficult to understand why. Stress was a compassionate person, and even Cleo’s unbeating heart twinged when she’d heard how shattered Ice had looked. 

“Glad you like it, now how about I show why I needed those heads in the first place.” Cleo grinned. 

Ice clapped her hands, “Ooo I’d love to.” A shulker box appeared in her hands, and she handed it to Cleo, “Here ya go!”

Cleo inspected the contents of the box, it had a few piles of assorted hermit heads, as well as some villager and monster heads. “This’ll do nicely.”

The pair slowly made their way over the town center, with Cleo explaining parts of the town and Ice admiring the details. Finally they reached the center, and Cleo began to set up the armour stand, specifically the one she wanted in the noose. It wasn’t too hard, just minor adjustments, and Ice stayed quiet, which Cleo appreciated greatly. Finally when she’d finished the last minor positioning she wrapped a lead around the armour stand’s neck. Cleo threw the other end of the rope over the top fence. The zombie then hoisted it up so that the stand was dangling a few feet off the group, giving it the appearance of being hanged. 

“Hey Ice, what do you think?” Cleo asked, wanting to know whether or not it looked good. When the hybrid didn’t answer after a few seconds Cleo turned around. Ice was standing, looking at the hanging post. Her pupils were small, and her hands were clenched so hard Cleo could smell blood, most likely from small gouges in her palms. Tears were pooling at the corners of her eyes. “Ice!” Cleo shouted, “Snap out of it.” 

Ice unclenched her fists, and for a second Cleo was hopeful that she’d broken her out of the horrified state, oh how wrong she was. Instead Ice wrapped her hands around the hilt of her sword, and promptly stabbed the sharpened diamond straight through her chest. 

The next few minutes were a blur. Cleo remembered Ice collapsing onto the ground, blade still buried through her. There was blood, she could smell it. Her thoughts told her to feast, Ice was going to respawn anyways, but Cleo shoved them away. Her zombie instinct were not to be listened to. The blade was removed, Ice’s hands easily falling away, her sweater was ruined, crimson liquid staining the white fabric. Thankfully the zombie had been carrying a healing potion and had forced the pink fluid down the ursa’s throat, her wings convulsing all the while. Once the bleeding has stopped, Ice has looked up, her eyes unfocused and glassy with tears. Cleo had tried to grip her hand, as a sign of reassurance, but Ice had torn away. She was muttering under breath, words too quiet and scrambled for Cleo to hear. 

“Ice, please. Can you hear me?” Cleo reached out for the ursa. She was worried for her friend. “Please you’re scaring me.”

“Cold.” That was a word that Cleo could hear. In fact it was the last word Cleo heard before Ice launched herself into the air, and soared over the open ocean. The zombie scrambled for her elytra, but cursed as she realized that it was still on her ship. Red hair whipped in the wind, flowers becoming dislodged as the sea breeze swept the shout that came from her mouth, a futile attempt to reach her friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading. You have no idea how much it means knowing people are invested in the stories I write. The comments I receive from all of you make my day, and I couldn't ask for better readers.


	15. I am Flesh and I am Bone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot of angst and a tad bit of fluff. PLEASE READ THE NOTES. I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this yesterday and I was tired so I forgot to upload it. I'm also sad cause the Dream SMP is nothing but angst right now and I don't have energy to watch any of the hermits. 
> 
> OKAY IMPORTANT UPDATE:
> 
> I will be starting a new fic! It's title is "The Crimson Creeps In." It has nothing to do with this fic, but I will be adding some references. It features members of the Dream SMP as well as characters from the SMP that I have joined. I am super excited to write and work on this fic since it incorporates lore and plot from the SMP that I've joined. All of my friends are super excited and I hope that all of you will be as well. 
> 
> But fear not I will still update this fic! I will try and update them both consistently, but sometimes I will update this fic more or I will update that one more. I am not abandoning this work whatsoever.

_ “Hey Far I’m h0-.” The totem clattered to the ground, forgotten. The anguished sobs fell on dead ears. _

Ice flapped her wings harder, the spray of the cold ocean waves went unnoticed. Her mind was numb and fuzzy. Scattered images of a brown haired woman hanging from a noose came and went. Crying, then pain, and then the smell of iron. Blood. Cold. So very cold. Dying, then respawning. Then dying again. It hurt so much. Ice was wrenched back into the present when a splash of water hit her face. The ocean water had turned from lukewarm to frigid. She’d flown so far that the open water was now dotted with icebergs. 

“ _ Wake up, please! PLEASE!” Tears rolled down onto the ground. Another totem pressed into cold hands. The shimmer of green and gold never came. A heartbeat never returned. _

Ice clenched her eyes shut, the memories were painful. She didn’t want them back. God she was a fool for ever thinking she was happy before. 

_ The ground was hard, and difficult to dig, but eventually the body was set to rest forever in the earth. “I’m sorry. God I’m so sorry Far, please just come back.” There were no tears, they had all been wiped away. It began to rain and somehow that was appropriate like the world itself was mourning.  _

Ice didn’t realize she was falling until she hit the water. It shocked her right down to the bone. Ice cold fire soaked into her primaries, soaking them to the point of heaviness. She couldn’t even swim, nerves locked up in shock. Ice sank down into the depths of the ocean. 

  
  


Iskall heard the gurgle of a drowned. The undead creature was slowly swimming towards him. It didn’t get very far as the conduite suffocated it’s feeble grip on the living world. A splash alerted him, odd since there weren’t any mobs nearby, well except for the drowned, but they didn’t usually splash. He looked around and his eye piece picked up on a heat signature. It was faint and the figure was sinking. He swam towards it, and with a start realized it was Ice. The hybrid was sinking into the ocean, and Iskall could see why. Sticking out of her right wing was a trident. Her body was rigid, and it was obvious that the cold of the ocean had sent her body into thermal shock. 

He swam over to her, and realized with relief that she was in range of the conduit, so she wasn’t drowning.  _ Help her idiot.  _ Right he should get her inside. The conduit might provide air and night vision but it did nothing to protect against the frigid cold of the ocean. He grabbed the back of her sweater and began to drag her to his base. Once he’d gotten fairly close he switched from tugging Ice along to carrying her bridal style. It was awkward since the prong of the trident threatened to pierce through Iskall’s armour, but he managed to set her down on top of the large table in his meeting room. 

A buzz from his communicator shifted his attention from his wounded friend. 

**ZombieCleo:** Has anyone seen Ice?!

**Grian:** No why?

**Iskall85:** She’s at my place Cleo

**ZombieCleo:** Oh thank the end, I was worried. I’ll be right over

Iskall sighed,  _ I hope Cleo explains what the heck is going on.  _ He was confused as to how Ice had ended up in the middle of the ocean. It wasn’t strange to assume that she had been trying to visit him, but Cleo’s message in the chat made him think otherwise. A whimper came from the table and he turned his focus back on Ice. She was still knocked out, but now she was shivering violently, her lips and skin had taken on a pale shade of blue.  _ Fuck  _ he internally cursed, the cold stone was only making Ice’s body temperature colder. He debated whether or not to warm her up, or remove the trident from her wing.

“Iskall!!!” His thoughts were interrupted by Cleo, his undead friend was soaking wet, her dull eyes filled with worry. 

“Cleo.” He tried to keep his voice even, “Do you mind telling me why you are worried, and why Ice looks like she’s been to the void and back.”

“I’ll tell you later, why didn’t you remove that trident yet, and by the end she looks freezing.” Iskall felt like protesting. He didn’t. Unlike Jevin he valued his life. And an angry Cleo was not something he wanted to deal with. 

It wasn’t easy looking at Ice’s wing. The prongs of the trident were buried into torn and matted feathers, and dried blood was smeared into the exposed skin. The ocean water had washed away some of the blood, but salt had dried and built up around the base of the wounds. To say it was a pretty sight would be nothing short of a tall tale. 

“Iskall I need you to cut the trident.” Iskall looked at Cleo with a look of questioning.

“What?” 

She glanced over at him, “We can’t pull it back out since the sharp ends are like the tips of arrows, they’d just get caught on the wing and cause her more pain, not to mention damage the wing even further.” 

Iskall pulled out his axe as Cleo steadied the shaft of the trident. Then he carefully began to saw at the base. It was a slow process and the noise was awful, but eventually it finally snapped into two pieces and Cleo pulled the rest of the trident. They didn’t prepare for the spurt of blood that poured out of the wound. It soaked into the surrounding feathers and the pungent smell of iron reached Iskall’s nose. He glanced at his zombie friend who had her hands clenched into fists as she breathed as shallowly as possible.

“You can leave the room if you need too, I have healing potions.” 

Cleo shook her head, “No I’m fine, just haven’t eaten in a while.” Her voice was rigid and her teeth were clenched tightly. 

It wasn’t easy being an undead, especially a sentient one. Most were mindless monsters who hungered for meat. At least the zombies, drowned, and husks were. It was unclear as to how exactly Cleo became a zombie, but as far as Iskall knew she stumbled into Joe’s base half turned and only quick thinking on the other’s end saved her mind from completely slipping. Iskall had joined after that happened, and Cleo always shuddered when asked about it. No one else had the heart to pry into her past, and those who had been around when it happened refused to share any details. Even though she was still sentient Cleo needed some sort of raw meat to satiate her urge to eat living flesh. More often than not it was an unlucky villager who sacrificed their life for the cause. Unwillingly. Iskall didn’t judge, as a former hitman he was more than used to taking lives. 

A whimper of pain from the wounded hybrid brought him back to reality. A quick splash of a regeneration potion began to slowly repair damaged tissue and he managed to force a healing potion down Ice’s throat. Her face went from scrunched up in pain, to only shuddering from the cold. Iskall scooped her up and carried her to the main room, the one with a fireplace. Cleo trailed behind, taking deep breaths to steady herself. Thankfully Ice’s wings seemed to want to instinctively curl around herself, plus the added heat from the fire, and the three blankets began to return the color back to her normally pale skin. 

“Oh good she’s okay!” the sound of the resident ice queen’s voice reached his ears. He turned and was surprised to see Xisuma standing in the doorway as well.

“Well hallo, wasn't expecting to see the two of you here.” Ice was curled in the fetal position, eyes scrunched shut, but she wasn’t currently at risk of dying, so he left her in favor of talking to their friends on the couch. Cleo took his place, and pulled Ice’s head into her lap, stroking her hair and ears. “Now Cleo can you please tell me what happened?” 

“I was wondering that too. If you wouldn’t mind.” Xisuma asked.

“Okay,” Cleo said, “I was at my base. I was working on one of my armour stand projects. I realized I didn’t have enough heads to complete it. So I asked if anyone else had a large supply of heads that they weren’t using, or didn’t need. Ice said she did, and the next day she flew over and gave them to me. I gave her a tour of what I had done so far. When we reached the center of the town, I started working again on the hanging post, which was my current project. Ice was really quiet, but I just assumed she was being polite and didn’t want to disturb me while I worked. When I was finished, I asked her what she thought. When she didn’t answer I turned around, and, and…” At this Cleo trailed off before continuing, “She looked like she’d seen a ghost, her hands were clenched up, and her eyes, god it was like she wasn’t even there.”

“Like she was looking at someone else?” Stress asked.

Cleo nodded, “Yeah, her eyes were all zoned out, and when I tried to snap her out of it. She, she stabbed herself.”

“WHAT!” Xisuma looked over at Stress

“Stress please calm down.” He asked quietly, placing a hand on the druid’s shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry, please continue Cleo.” The ice queen looked sheepish

“Okay so she just collapsed, and then I removed the sword. I was trying to be careful, and after I dumped a healing potion on the wound, she looked like she kind of snapped out of it, but then she flew off. I had left my elytra on my ship since I didn’t think I’d need it for the day, and well.” She gestured at Ice’s sleeping form. 

Now that Iskall was actually looking, he could see the faint stain of blood splattered on Ice’s sweater, the sea water had helped remove a lot of it, but if you were looking, it stuck out like a sore thumb. 

“Well I’m just happy she’s safe.” Stress said

“Is she though?” Xisuma asked, “I mean this has happened twice, and she, Ice doesn’t, it doesn’t feel like she’s safe.” 

“Why is this happening though, that’s what I don’t get. She seemed perfectly stable when I first met her.” Iskall answered the admin’s question with one of his own.

“Repressed trauma,” Stress said.

“What?” Cleo questioned, craning her neck to look the druid in the eyes.

“Repressed trauma,” she repeated, sighing at the confused looks she was getting, “When a person goes through a lot of emotional, mental, or physical trauma their brain can lock those memories away when they become too much to deal with. It’s a coping mechanism. Unfortunately one of the side effects can be memory loss, since those memories can relate to the trauma.”

“So what you’re saying, is that Ice has no memories because she might have experienced something so bad, that her brain physically couldn’t handle the emotional baggage that came with those memories.” Iskall tried to summarize as best he could.

Stress looked impressed, “Yes, essentially at some point Ice’s brain locked those traumatic memories away, her body didn’t feel safe enough to deal with the trauma in a healthy way.” 

“Okay, if that’s the case then why didn’t Grian lose his memories when we saved him from the Watchers. Or Scar after that landslide crushed his legs?” Xisuma stared at Ice’s face, his own scrunched up in confusion under the helmet. 

“Well, their trauma wasn’t repeated.” Stress groaned, “this is very hard to explain. Okay so a person’s brain can experience some trauma and cope with it. It might not be healthy, but as long as they’re able to feel secure and safe, their bodies can handle it. So Grian was able to cope with his trauma because he had Mumbo helping him through it. It also helped that he started healing almost immediately after he was removed from the traumatic situation. The same can be said about Scar, although his trauma was more physical rather than mental. Point being Ice didn’t have anyone to help with her trauma because she wasn’t even aware that she had trauma.” Stress looked a bit frazzled and small patches of frost had begun to form on her hands and face. 

“Mmhn,” A soft groan came from Ice who had begun to shift in the cocoon of feathers and blankets, “Cleo?” Her voice was slurred and her eyes blinked slowly in confusion.

“Yeah Ice, hey stay down, you’re safe.” Cleo hushed the ursa gently and continued petting the top of her head. “It’s okay, it's just me and Iskall and Stress and X.” 

Stress slid off the couch and joined the zombie on the floor. “Hey Snowflake how are you feeling?” 

“Mmhn my head’s all fuzzy, and my wing hurts. ‘M cold too.” She burrowed into Cleo’s side. 

“Okay what do you remember last?” 

“Was flyin, then it was really cold, and I couldn move.” She looked up at Cleo, “I’m sorry for running, don’t be mad.” 

Cleo’s eyes widened, “Ice I’m not mad, I was really worried, you were in a lot of pain, it’s not your fault.”

Iskall spoke up, “why do you think that Cleo would be mad?” 

Ice’s brow furrowed, “dunno, just feel like you would be angry at me, for leavin.” She looked confused, but Iskall noted that her speech was becoming less slurred together. “Head hurts thinking about it.”

“Well,” Xisuma clapped his hands, “Let’s not think about it then, let’s talk about something else.” 

“Did you hear about Grian’s head hunt?” Stress quickly took X’s advice and shifted the subject to another topic.

“Yeah, False managed to get into my vault using chorus fruit, like what the hell!” Iskall was still mildly salty about the occurrence.

Cleo laughed at Iskall’s misfortune, “Yeah, she’s clever like that.”

“Simp.” Stress called out. Poking the zombie in the stomach.

“Like you aren’t” Came the rebuttal. 

It was no secret that the zombie and the druid had a thing for both each other and for False, and it went both ways. They hadn’t made anything official, which did provide a lot of opportunities to tease the trio. 

Ice laughed and Iskall took a second to appreciate the sound. It was light and airy like freshly fallen snow, nothing like the hollow dead sound of her voice moments earlier. 

“Mine and Grian’s prank on Mumbo was pretty good.” Iskall laughed recalling the avian excitedly telling him about the obsidian prank. 

“You guys have got to stop traumatizing him,” Stress chirped, “He’s got enough to deal with without you or Grian ruining his day.”

Iskall waved her off, “All in good fun Stressy.”

Ice giggled, “I swear you guys spend more time pulling pranks on one another than you spend working on your bases.” 

Xisuma chuckled, “Yeah that might be true, speaking of bases, how's the excavation going on that massive cavern you’ve set up shop in going?”

Ice groaned, “It’s fine, mostly just a hassle, but the amount of gravel I’ve had to dig out of my primaries is getting out of hand.” The aforementioned feathers puffed up. 

“Yeash, that sounds annoying.” Cleo commented switching from petting Ice’s head to stroking down the edges of her wings. Ice let out a sound that was a mixture of a coo and growl, which Iskall only recognized due to the fact that Grian made a similar sound when he was comfortable. “I cannot imagine how much time it must take to clean those things.”

Ice thought for a minute, “Hmm, if I had to guess, I’d say that it usually takes me around an hour or so to clean them each day.”

“Wow,” Stress exclaimed, “That’s a surprising amount of time.” 

“Yeah, but that’s only if I’m skimming over each feather, a deep clean could take me up to three hours. It’s annoying, sure, but it’s necessary if I want to fly. False is lucky, she doesn’t have to clean hers as much.”

The group stayed like that into the earlier hours of the morning, just talking with one another. At some point Stress went to make hot chocolate and Ice made cookies. It was a serene calm before the oncoming storm. 

  
  
  


Oscar dangled his legs over the ledge, staring down into the lava bubbling below.

“You know I don’t really think that’s very safe, but if you’re feeling suicidal go ahead.” Fir’s voice came from the doorway a few feet away. 

He stared down at his grey skin, “I’m not suicidal, I just like looking at it. It’s kinda pretty in a very twisted way.” He liked the nether, it made him feel warm, alive almost. “Reminds me of home.”

“Home? Thought that was here.” Fir had moved to sit next to him, one of her wings wrapping itself around his body.

“My old home. It’s just a past memory. Kinda hard to remember, it’s been a while.” 

“We have a bonding moment?” EX came to sit next to him on his other side. “Sorry for interrupting.”

“No,” Oscar said, “It’s fine, I’d rather contemplate death with the two of you than by myself.” 

“Morbid much.” Fir joked, the light from the glowstone above reflecting in her eyes.

“Shh.” EX said, “We’re contemplating death, remember.”

Fir looked mad for a second, before becoming quiet and staring out across the boiling lake of death. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys. Kudos and Comments are appreciated, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. CIVIL WAR IS COMING SOON!!!!! Do you think Ice will join a side, and if so which one?


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